Awkward
by Hakudoushi kawaii ne
Summary: The unpopular Sasuke's only wish is to stay as far away from the spotlight as possible, but through certain events that might be harder than he first thought. Based on the show awkward. NaruSasu OOC LEMON HIGH SCHOOL
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters used in this story nor can I say I do the plot.

So I was watching this show called awkward when I came up with this. It's a really good show, so if you haven't watched it yet, you should totally check it out. This will be purely based on the show. The beginning will follow the series rather loyally, but the farther I get I'll try turning it as original as possible. The character's are rather OOC but given that their upbringing is different to the ones in the series, they have to act different. Um that's about it I guess. I hope you'll enjoy. This is read from Sasuke's point of view. Rated M for sexual content.

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><p>Awkward.<p>

Fifteen years, I fantasized about the moment I'd be walking down that hall, no one bullying me and especially no one staring at me. This was my time to blend in, having finally left junior high behind along with most of its student body. Aka, this was my time to finally become anonymous.

What was I supposed to wear? Would I finally get a girlfriend? Would I've become taller like my brother Itachi? No, that's unfortunately not my reality. My moment, which was supposed to be as far away from the spotlight as possible, was the complete opposite as they all looked at me: they're eyes shining with mirth, only two words on their lips; _That Boy._

**B**ut like any other good TV drama, my story began at this summer's summer camp. It was yet another one of those lame 'end of camp' dances that the camp arranged every year, where they played dance music and the geeks finally got some of the spotlight they missed out on the rest of the year. The rest of us, well we only got drunk. Except for me, I sat on the side with my un-spiked fruit punch, having never tasted a drop of alcohol in my whole life. This was the only time I was invisible.

I sat watching from afar the people whom were enjoying themselves to the beat of the music when my eyes eventually spotted _him: _Uzumaki Naruto. He was the popular guy from my old school, the guy I've been finding it hard to keep my eyes away from. It was something about that blonde hair and pierce blue eyes that captivated me unlike anything else had ever done so far in my life. He would make my heart skip a beat, which was enough to make me question my own sexuality. I was sure I wasn't gay, because I find girls attractive, but neither could I deny he made me feel things I shouldn't feel towards another guy.

Naruto stood a few feet away, chatting with some friends when the group suddenly dissolved, his friends going off to somewhere I couldn't care less. However, it was at that moment Naruto looked up, our eyes locking and he sent me a wink of acknowledgment. The move was rather cheesy, but it was enough to make my cheeks heat up. I looked around me to see if it was really me he had winked at and realized no one else was looking his way. Was this my shot at talking to him? I wondered, my mind already busy preparing interesting topics to talk about.

I sent him a shy smile and took a zip from my drink but oh how I shouldn't have. As usual, whenever I try to act cool, my nerves would eventually cause something to happen and this time I choked on the liquid, the drink pouring out from my mouth a second later. My humiliation was painful and I could only imagine Naruto immediately losing interest in me.

But Naruto only smiled while quirking his head as a sign to follow him. It was a joke right? Naruto wanted me to follow him? I quickly apologized to the girl I'd drenched with my drink and shot up, following Naruto.

When I finally caught up to Naruto he dragged me into the utility closet, the place famous for taking many virginities, and pressed his lips rather clumsily over mine. I was shocked. I didn't even know Naruto swung that way! But it didn't take long until impulse took over and I kissed back with just as much passion. The whole thing happened so fast and suddenly my head was repeatedly hitting the wall but I couldn't care less. Uzumaki Naruto was interested in _me_ and I was so happy. The pain from losing my virginity was immense but Naruto's pleasured groans totally made up for it.

"Am I hurting you?" Naruto surprised me by saying, his face slightly worried but it didn't stop him from trusting in to me yet again, or again.

"No…" I denied, "It's just… Allergies. Don't let it stop you, it feels great." I lied, in my mind I pleaded for him to finish up quickly as I wiped an unshed tear from my eye. Who knew sex would be so painful?

"Right." Naruto said, his movements quickening and thrusts deepening. Not long after he came with a rather long moan, his member pulsating inside of me, and I thanked god it was over. I feigned a satisfied sound as he pulled out of me, apparently, not the least bothered by the fact I hadn't cummed yet.

I pushed myself up, ignoring the splitting pain that shot up my lower back and searched for my underwear. We dressed in silence, Naruto looked a bit lost but I was just anxious. What happened now? Would we become an item? Perhaps this year wouldn't suck as much ass as the rest of them had. I smiled inwardly sending Naruto a small smile, Naruto looked back at me, his lips also twitching into a smile.

Yeah, this was awkward…

"So…" Naruto began. "Summer's almost over. A total bummer right?"

"Uh, yeah." I say, nervously nodding. It almost makes me feel like a bobble head figurine.

"Any plans for your two last weeks?" Naruto questioned, struggling with finding the left arm of his shirt.

Was this his way to see if I was free? Would he ask me out? "Not much I guess. Probably just… hang out, go to the movies, stuff like that." I didn't want to seem too busy, neither as if I completely lacked a social life… Even if I did.

"Sweet." Naruto said, his eyes shifting to the side giving off the impression he had something more to say but whatever it was he remained silent. And so I decided to help him. Hey, it's not like I'm going to let him just walk away!

"So what school did you get in to?" I ask, genuinely interested. What? If we were going to be a couple I had to know.

"Kings west."

No fucking way. "K-kings west?" I repeated. I couldn't believe Naruto would attend my school! Fate was definitely on my side this year.

"Are you going to the orientation?"

"Uh well, we have to. Don't we?"

"No um, what I meant to ask was… Would you like to go… together, with me?" There, I had said it, I'd pushed my pride to the side but could you blame me? Uzumaki Naruto was standing in front of me, we had just shared an intimate moment, he had cracked my hard shell and my heart was oozing sticky strange emotions.

Naruto let out a small chuckle, his eyes adopting a look I couldn't read and he leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. I repeat: _a kiss to my forehead_. Yeah, even _I_ knew what that meant. "Hey, you are the cutest."

A vein popped at my temple and my eyes tore up. Normally I would have bashed his head in, but this was Uzumaki Naruto. As sickly as it sounded, at that moment, my heart was shooting candy hearts at him.

"-But no one can know I like you. That's cool right?" Naruto grinned and without waiting for my response, he left the room. Reality hit me hard, I was still Uchiha Sasuke: single to the public eye.

_tbc_

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><p>So this was the introduction. If the response is good I'll continue, if not... well I guess this is it. I hope to see you again! Please leave your statement in a review.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_Loud shout out to those who reviewed previous chapter; Thank you so much guys! I'm happy to see my idea was well received. As my sign of gratitude, here is another installment of awkward. Please enjoy._

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><p>Part Two<p>

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><p>Though I refused to admit it, Naruto's rejection affected me, a lot. My heart, now crushed in to tiny bits, ached and I didn't know what to do. A part of me felt tempted to call my mom but she was away with father and I knew by experience they did not like being disturbed. That left me with only one option left; my brother, not that he was much to count on.<p>

Though my better judgment, I decided to try talking to him anyway and so went to the kitchen where I knew he would be.

He was standing, popping grape after grape in to his mouth, while talking on the phone to whomever I couldn't care less about. I cleared my throat and in turn earned his attention. He shot me a greeting nod and reached in to the stack of mail, pulling out a letter which he then waved for me to take. "Sasuke, this came for you in the mail." Once I took it he smiled and went back to his call. "I know right, that's not your fault-"

I gave him a helpless look, once again earning his attention, and I almost expected him to ask what was wrong when he just pulled out a stack of clothes and pushed them towards me. "Don't forget these on your way up." He said and I rolled my eyes at his obvious way to avoid the conversation. My brother always knew when something was wrong, but for him to actually act upon it? Well that chance was slim to none.

I put the letter over the clothes and carried it up to my room. Once there I just tossed the clothes to the side, the letter in my right hand and went directly for my computer. It was kind of stupid, but if no one was prepared to listen I was going to write about it. That usually helped.

I opened my blog and pressed 'New Entry'. "What would you call... the worst day of your life?" I pondered aloud, pinching my nose to keep the surging emotions at bay.

_Rubbed Raw and Reeling_

My fingers were ready to start typing when my messenger popped up and fat bold text read 'Calling you!'. Not a second sooner, my phone started vibrating the phone's ring tone cutting through the silence. I stared at the name a short moment until I snapped the phone open, waiting for Sakura to empty her heart out.

"OH MY GOD SASUKE!" Sakura's squealing voice cut through my ear as I moved the phone an inch further away. I had enough having my heart broken I didn't need to go deaf too. "He blew you off? But I could've so seen it coming."

"And you didn't care to tell me?" I asked annoyed.

"Well it's not like I'm some kind of psychic, am I? Guys like Naruto don't go for guys like us. But look on the bright side at least you didn't screw him and have him starting rumors about it only to ditch you on winter formal for some crazy bitch. I so regret ever touching that guy Suigetsu. Now you don't have to suffer the humiliation, if god forbid, you had actually let him screw you."

Yeah, not screw him. Wait a minute. "Why does it have to be him screwing me?" I demanded slightly perturbed. Never mind, she was right.

"Oh please Sasuke, you're so not the top. Just look at you; you're short, have a girly face and you know that ass just screams come and claim me."

"Do not!" I denied feeling my cheeks heat up. Sakura was so bold.

"Trust me when I say, you do! But you have to snap out of it Sasuke. There are plenty more fish in the sea. I heard there's going to be a party for first years arranged by the sophomores, we should totally go there! It could be a great way to meet new people!"

At times, Sakura's enthusiasm was exhausting. I fell back on my back, staring at the ceiling wondering how I could skip out on it. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Of course you don't!" She said and I could only imagine the wide grin she usually wore. "Anyway I need you as my Wingman since Hinata's grounded again."

"Again?" I asked slightly surprised. As far as I knew she had just finished her last grounding.

"Yeah, it's something about not getting the right test scores. Sometimes I wonder if she's even Japanese."

"That's a bit racist."

"Oh please, it's not racist if it's true Sasuke. So, will you come? Please?"

"I'm not sure."

"Of course you're not. You're such a bore Sasuke! Well I gotta go, you're allowed to quote me on that last part for your blog by the way, 'kay, ttyl!"

I shut my phone closed and tossed it to the side. How the hell was I supposed to get out of this one? All I wanted was to stay invisible but being friends with Sakura made that wish quite impossible. I swung my legs over the brink of the bed, feeling a headache coming down, and by accident pushed the letter I'd almost forgotten all about, to the floor. I picked it up and read the written address.

Strange.

I started opening it on my way to the bathroom. The letter was neatly folded inside so I took it out and began reading:

_Sasuke,_

_As of now you could disappear without anyone noticing. Below is a list of suggestions you should take serious consideration to:_

_1. You are a total pussy. Grow some back bone._

_2. Your instincts suck. In the future second guess them._

_3. The only people more pathetic than you are your friends. Drop the dead weight. _

_4. When you're handsome, you're happy. You're clearly not happy._

_5. Pull your head out of your ass. No one cares about the invisible, that's why you're a victim, stand out and embrace the attention._

_6. Nobody likes the pitiful. Stop being such a drag._

_7. You need to be cruel to be kind._

_A Friend_

Whoever wrote the letter, clearly didn't hesitate to blow some punches. But it was the truth. I returned to my room and sat down in front of the laptop and began typing,

_Got a letter and whoever was the sender, didn't do much to spare on the truth. However, it is the truth, but that doesn't mean that the truth doesn't hurt. Sometimes I wish I could just go away and become someone else. Because the way I am right now, I could just die and no one would care enough to miss me._

"Sasuke, dinner in ten!" Itachi called out from down stairs.

I stood, a frown on my brow, and went back to the bathroom. Deciding on a quick shower - since it always helped whenever I felt low - I turned on the water in advance in order for it to get warm. "Aspirin take me away" I spoke out loud to no one in particular and located the big glass bottle filled with pills.

I let two drop in my hand and then tossed them back in my mouth. I leaned my head backwards, trying to swallow them but started coughing as one of the pills got stuck in my throat. I felt panic settle in as I began choking and accidentally dropped the aspirin bottle to the floor. It shattered as soon it hit the floor and pills rolled out all over the floor. I bent my head forward and coughed extra hard and saw the two pills fly out and land in the faucet. I knocked over the cup with toothbrushes with one of my arms and was just about to take a step back when I slipped on the pills under my feet.

I fell to the floor, my back hitting the shower doors and I let out a cry of pain. The next second happened so fast I barley had the time to register what was happening. The house went completely dark and I heard a sizzling sound from my left. Itachi called my name again and again, his voice strangely upset and that's when it all turned even darker. Yes you could probably guess what happened, I blacked out.

**Xx**

"Physically he's on his way to recovery, but mentally he's still most likely very fragile. Perhaps you should consider a psychiatrist. He still has a long way to go before he eventually can overcome this."

This can't be happening? I watched from my bed where I laid wrapped up in bandages from waist and up. In my fall I managed to break my arm. Yeah I know, just my luck. And what the fuck would that doctor know? They talked as if I were mentally unstable; I only had a bad day. It was all an accident. They acted as if you weren't allowed to have bad days!

My parents stood listening to the doctor's instructions and every now and then my mom would send me worried glances.

"I didn't try to kill myself. It was an accident." I tried to say, but the thing around my neck only twisted my words into an incomprehensive mumble.

My mom went up to me and put a hand over my arm. I guess it was supposed to be comforting but it only made my skin crawl. I tried to pull away but the tight bindings around me kept me firmly in place.

"Sweetie, you should rest up. You don't want to strain yourself in your… condition. "

My condition? Oh please. I rolled my eyes and looked away. Really, it was just an accident. Damn people jumping to conclusions. The embarrassment from the accident was already enough to make me wanna die… well you know, not die _die_, I wasn't suicidal. I was just experiencing some extremely ridicules teenage drama that somehow had been blown into epic proportions. It was just so _humiliating._

_tbc..._

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><p>So I had this really nice note all typed up and when I was just about to save, the browser just died. Just my luck *sigh* Unfortunately, as of today until Sunday 16th there won't be any more updates since I am yet again going back to Greece. <em>Though you shall not fret, <em>I promise to write while I'm away. Thanks for reading! Now it's time for the reviewing! _*chuckles shamelessly*  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three

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><p>When I said I wanted to stay invisible, I had never, imagined how difficult that would be. As I walked down the hall, school start eventually here, eyes from everywhere were looking at me and only me.<p>

For two weeks I tried telling people my accident was just that; an accident but no one would listen to me and apparently, judging by the way people were all staring at me, they did not believe me either. How was it, that people I had never met before knew something so private about me? It was stupid.

I escaped to the bathroom and felt relief when I saw no one was inside. I went to one of the many faucets and washed my face, chanting in my head that I shouldn't care about what others said, even though it was hard. However, my escape was short lived when my mobile made a buzzing sound, notifying me about a new text message.

Sakura was calling for my attention. Hinata and she wanted to meet asap by the fountain in the school yard. I groaned, and grudgingly I may add, flung my bag over the shoulder and was on my way.

"Oh my god!" Sakura cried out the first thing she saw me, Hinata standing quiet next to her. "It's only the first day and you're already the talk of the school Sasuke!

"Did you know there are rumors saying you are a member of one of those suicidal groups or that you knocked someone up and that's why you wanted to kill yourself! I even heard someone saying you've been to rehab at least 20 times _this year _for your drug troubles_._ I didn't even know a person could go to rehab that many times in such a short time!" Sakura rambled on, like always, all the while I only became more confused.

Suicidal groups? Someone pregnant? Seriously, didn't people have anything else to talk about?

"Everyone knows your name Sasuke! Everyone!"

"I just wanted to blend in." I groaned. What had I done to deserve such a fate?

"Well you should've thought about that before your attempt on suicide."

"Wait a minute." I froze in mid step, glaring at my two friends as I couldn't believe what Sakura just said. "You know I wouldn't try to kill myself right? It was an accident."

"Un-n, sure we do Sasuke." Hinata said, her eyes shifting awkwardly to the side meanwhile Sakura only punched me playfully on the arm. "Yeah listen to Hinata! It's okay Sasuke. We believe you." She said, stretching the word believe to the point it sounded rather sarcastic.

I couldn't believe not even my friends would trust me when I said it was an accident. I directed them both under one of my best glares and then promptly turned to walk away. Or that's what I would have done, hadn't I connected with something akin to a bricked wall.

The wind got knocked out of me and I fell to the floor, my arm connecting with the hard cement. To deny it hurt, would be a lie but I kept control of my pain as it dawned before me just who this bricked wall really was. No effing way! "Ishida…" The name died on my lips as ten years of bullying replayed before my eyes.

"Sasuke…" Temari said, her eyes gleaming in that strange evil way they always had. "I heard you finally tried to do the world a favor. Too bad you didn't make it. But then again, maybe that was your intention from the start? You so desperately wanted people to talk about you and that's why you did it? Pitiful, you belong to a mental institution." Temari chuckled and then signaled her leave to the pack of people behind her.

"What a bitch." Sakura said and assisted me back on my feet, Hinata also helping.

"I can't believe it." I mumbled mostly to myself as I watched Temari disappear into the crowds of people. The day had barely just begun and it was getting worse by the second. I thought by leaving junior high I would get a chance to a fresh start but now when Temari had followed me that was hardly happening anytime soon. There were three schools in our district! Three! Why the hell did Ishida Temari have to choose my school when there were two others which were just as good as Kings West! To make my life miserable, that's why. I was a hundredth percent sure that was her only reason and it sucked some major ass.

Fuck it.

Class eventually called us in and we scurried over to class, not wanting to be late. Usually I preferred the front in order to concentrate better (and escape Sakura's constant chatter) but with my newest extension, I felt the further back we sat, the better.

"Living on the dangerous side of the road I see." Sakura said from next to me, her face twisted into a smug grin.

At that moment, I just wanted to punch her. "Hn." I grunted, not too keen on talking as the teacher just walked in.

"Oh you gonna give me the silent treatment? Fine but just so you know you're such a baby Sasuke. Right Hinata, right?" Sakura looked expectantly over at Hinata and so I did too. As if Hinata ever would agree.

"Uh.. Mm… Ma-, no… I don't know." Hinata blushed and buried her face in to her hands. She did that a lot really, it was one of her slightly weird habits and it had always reminded me of the same way ostriches do it.

"No fun." I heard Sakura say from the side and so turned to her with a victorious smirk. 1-0 to me.

The teacher presented himself as Kakashi. He looked a bit odd, his face partly covered by a black mask, and his hair defied gravity in a way no one should be able to do, but he seemed nice enough. If not a bit lazy judging by the way he moved and spoke.

Class wasn't that interesting as it was informing but it was short and so when there were only five minutes left all people sat staring at the clock, including our teacher, just waiting for that damned thing to ring so that we could all get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Um, I guess I should do something during these last few minutes… uhh." Kakashi began, his hand lazily scratching the back of his neck. "Uhm, perhaps you have any questions..?"

No one said anything.

"Anyone? C'mon." His eyes wandered over us and eventually came to a stop hovering just above me. Oh no.

"You in the back, you have a question?"

Inwardly I groaned, face palming myself as everyone turned and looked at me. "I didn't… raise my hand. It's kind of… stuck like this." I tried sounding as understanding as I could but it was difficult as my ears burnt red from suppressed annoyance. He had so done that on purpose! There was no way he hadn't seen the gigantic cast around my arm.

**Xx**

School was finally over and I couldn't wait to return home and just forget all about the humiliation I had had to suffer through the first day back to school. I said good bye to my two friends at the bus stop, enjoying the peace and quiet as I went to the place Itachi promised to pick me up.

I was just about to cross the school yard in order to get to the parking lot when blond hair caught my sight and I realized it was Naruto. I came to a halt and stared mesmerized at the laughing blond. I wanted to glare at him and just walk away for the way he treated me at camp, but something held me back and when blue eyes looked up, I became petrified. Unconsciously I bit my lip and struggled to suppress a growing smile. This was the first time we saw each other since camp.

Naruto sent a shy smile my way causing my heart to skip another beat. The move clearly said he still thought of me and the fact it made me happy was horrifyingly pathetic. Our eyes lingered on each other. What was I supposed to do? I wanted to go up and talk to him but knew the move would be highly unappreciated. But my worries were a waste when someone suddenly walked into my arm, forcing me to emit a soft grunt as I tried to ignore the pain.

"Are you okay?" Naruto mouthed, his eyes shining from stifled laughter.

It was a complicated question without a real answer. I took a deep breath and nodded, my lips clamped in to a straight line.

_tbc_

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><p>I haven't got the time to proof read at the moment, thus if you notice any irregularities, please let me know and I'll fix it immediately, thank you.<p>

Reviews equals inspiration!


	4. Chapter 4

Y'all good? I surely hope so! Here's the next instalment of _awkward_.

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><p>Part Four<p>

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><p><em>Uchiha Sasuke, please report to the school counselor's office.<em>

"Nice to meet you Sasuke! I'm Mitarashi Anko."

"Likewise." I replied staring at the ditzy looking woman in front of me, my words as far away from the truth as possible. The only reason I sat in the uncomfortable chair across the woman in first place, was because my parents threatened me by taking away both my phone and computer. If it were up to me, I would be as far away from the weird lady as possible.

"You wanna tell me why you're here or should I just cut to the point." The woman said, her eyes twinkling in what I could only comprehend as something purely sadistic. I felt like a criminal brought in for questioning under her apprehending eyes. In the past I had never took well on feeling cornered really. My mom would call me troublesome because it often landed me in fights. But I still don't like it.

I stared at her a long moment. Seriously, the woman was weird I didn't feel like talking to her at all. My mouth remained firmly pressed in to a thin line. A surprisingly short time passed before Anko eventually accepted my silence and continued talking, seemingly unfazed by my glare. "Not quite the talker then I take it." She leered seemingly excited by my defiance. "According to my files you had quite the 'accident' this summer Sasuke. You know, the-" She said and feigned to strangle herself, emitting a choking noise that she then chuckled at.

Anger arose within me as she dared to mock me and I was quick to correct her. Like hell I'd let her get away with it. "It was an accident."

Her eyes lit up in strange excitement and she winked at me. "Oh, of course it was! An_ accident_." The way she smiled at me made it seem as if I had just let her in on a big secret and that only annoyed me more. Why would no one believe me?

"You know, I got a copy from your mom of the letter you received. It wasn't very nice, was it?"

"Not really." I grunted, intensifying my glare. "Confrontations rarely are."

"That's a nifty way of seeing things!" Anko chuckled.

Not that nifty to get stupid woman. "Hn"

"Very nifty." She repeated, showing off strange canine teeth in the process. "And how did the letter make you feel?"

"…" Of course it made me feel crappy but like hell I were about to tell her that. I didn't trust her at all.

"I see. It's that bad you don't even feel like talking about it. Sorry." She apologized and started scribbling down notes on a piece of paper.

"I didn't say that!" I objected, aggravated by her assumptions. She stopped the pen for a second and looked up from the paper, her brow creased.

"It's okay Sasuke, there's no need to be embarrassed but because of your outburst I need to check through your bag I don't want you leaving me and causing another_ 'accident'._"

Once again I stared at her, bewildered by her idiocy. "Seriously?" I heard myself question as she pulled the bag from where I had hung it on the side of the chair.

"Sasuke, I do not kid, as you young people like to call it. It's only precautions." She said as if it were the most obvious reason in the world and then began emptying out my bag.

I watched her with little interest but when she pulled out my box of breath mints my eyes widened. "Those are just breath mints." I explained, already knowing she would assume it to be something else.

As predicted she scrutinized me under doubting eyes. "Are you really sure of that?" She opened the box and consumed one without even asking. She sucked on it long until her face adopted an almost disappointed look.

I smirked at her satisfied. As if I'd ever be stupid enough to bring drugs with me to my student councilor even if I did have them, of which I of course didn't. I knew drugs were bad.

"You have to understand what I'm trying to do here Sasuke." She said and put another two of my breath mints into her mouth. "I'm not here to be your enemy. I want just want you to have a happy school life. Let me tell you, when I was your age I got into some really deep shit and I could've really needed someone to talk to. And that's why I want to help you but for that to be possible you have to start sharing what's on your mind, okay?" She stuffed herself with three more pills but as fast as they entered they came right out. "Too many!" She made a sour face and spit them back into the small box and closed the lid putting them back in my bag.

I watched horrified, making a mental note to burn the box and its content as soon as I got out of her office.

"Do you have any questions at all?"

I had about hundreds of them but none of them were appropriate and at that point I just wanted out of there and so I stayed quiet.

"Okay. I'll see you next week, same time don't be late! And remember, staying alive is cool!"

It was official. My life was a total nightmare.

Xx

Walking through the school court, I was once again reminded of my current status in school. Some tried to hide their stares but most people were bashfully pointing my way, their laughs deafening. My stomach made a growling sound as if to encourage me to walk on. We had decided to eat outside today, since the weather was nice and the school offered a nice enough school court.

"We could eat in the dining hall if you'd like Sasuke. Since the weather's nice most people will probably eat outside…" Hinata whispered, her eyes constantly shifting worriedly between me and the ogling people. Like a curtain a scowl fell over my face. Sometimes Hinata's observing nature surprised me. That girl could see things no one else saw and she was very good at reading my expressions. I often find myself pondering why that is, but never come up with a good enough answer. Perhaps it was because she preferred to observe rather than to delta. But who knew really?

"It's fine." I told her and rolled my eyes. My time in junior high had thought me one thing; to ignore the nasty comments of others. And that's what I would do. It was understandable, right?

"That's the right spirit Sasuke!" Sakura cried out and hit my back encouragingly. I winced at the slight pain feeling my back tense. Hey, the woman possessed an incredible amount of strength, okay! It didn't make me any less of a man.

We found a spot on the grass and I pulled out my lunch bag. Today mom had made me club sammies. I was just about to take a bit out of one of them when I spotted Naruto across the yard. He stood leaning against a tree, looking like a cut out from some fashion magazine, talking to two girls. I felt a bit jealous watching them, as I still hadn't had a real conversation with him since camp. I had tried to confront him many times, but every time I came within a ten feet radius I would just lose all my confidence and freeze up like a total loser. It was very infuriating.

"Watch out Sasuke, you're drooling." I heard Sakura say, causing me to look away slightly embarrassed. Why the hell should I care about Naruto when he clearly didn't care about me.

"_All right! Hey hey hey, listen up all students of Kings West High! Who's ready to rally?"_ The spirited voice made us all look the way where a small stage was set up and a guy stood with a mike screaming at the top of his lungs enthusiastically. I recognized him as being one of the school team's football players and rolled my eyes.

"Great my school spirit isn't exactly at the top right now." I mumbled, earning a soft chuckle from Sakura and Hinata.

"_We're having our very first game today and there is no other way to get pumped up than with the wheel of pep! Now we need two guys and two girls. Do I see Temari raising her hand, Temari come on right up!"_

"Looks like Temari's about to hit six stones though I wouldn't be surprised if it were seven stones." Sakura snorted next to me as we all watched the cheer squad leader get up on the small platform.

"Maybe she eats to fill a void." Hinata said her voice as timid as always.

"Please, the only void she has is the one in her personality. That fucking bitch is just fat." I replied, my eyes busy glaring at the source of my bullying in junior high.

"_And who else but my best mate, Naruto get your ass up here! Does anyone else feel up to the challenge of school pep?"_

"Hell I do." I grunted, having never cared about anything close to school spirit. But not a second later I felt my hand sway in the air. I looked at it bewildered and saw Sakura's hand clasped tightly around my wrist, forcing it into an upright position.

"HERE!" Sakura's voice echoed loudly over the crowd of people around us. "Pick us!"

Eyes wide in horrify I was pulled to my feet and dragged over to the stage, a hushed good luck coming from Hinata. It was so humiliating. Being this close to Naruto I knew I'd freeze up again!

"C'mon Sasuke, if everyone's gonna stare, they might as well do it when you stand on a stage. Who knows, maybe this will change people's minds about you!"

As much as it annoyed me, Sakura was right. Even if my wish was to just blend in my current status as 'That Guy' would never let me. Perhaps if I acted more like an average student people would start to forget? And suddenly my mind was set. I could play along… Just you watch.

"Hey it's Sasuke right?" The guy with the mike asked his face strangely close as he spoke.

"Un." I nodded.

"_Okay Sasuke, spin that wheel!"_

I couldn't help the sickening feeling as cheerful cries and clapping hands urged me on but I did as ordered and spun the wheel, my mouth twitching into a nervous smile while wishing for the moment to just end already.

"_Okay guys we need to get pumped! We got an important game tonight and we all wanna win! Let's hear it for the football team!"_

The wheel eventually came to a stop, the thin arrow landing on the category; sex change.

"Alright! Sex exchange! The instructions are as followed; the four will now team up into a team of two of which they will swap clothes and the team that gets dressed first, wins! Simple as that! Good luck contestants you may begin… NOW!"

Sakura pulled me behind already prepared dressing rooms and ordered me to undress as quick as possible. My pants came off easy but the shirt was trickier. From the sudden increase of cheers, I knew someone was already done from the opposite team and the knowledge made my heart pump faster. It definitely was a strange feeling and it felt ridicules to get so worked up by a mere pep rally but the challenge kept me going. My shirt eventually came off and I tossed it over to Sakura. I dressed as quick as I physically could with my left arm practically crippled and ran out the changing room as soon I was done.

I didn't care about the fact I was standing in front a large crowd of people dressed in a pink mini skirt and a tube top when the cheers once again increased by a double.

"_And the winner is Sakura and Sasuke!"_

Sakura raised our hands in the air and started calling out my name, the crowd adopting her way and then they all called my name. Perhaps, this kind of fame, wasn't so bad?

My gaze swayed over to Naruto and our eyes met. He, as the rest of the people, laughed and clapped his hands excitedly. Though I knew my heart shouldn't, it skipped a beat and I sent him a gentle smile. However as I did realization hit me. Hard. I was still just as madly in love with Naruto as ever.

Fucking hell…

Next day when I logged on to blabberzone my friend requests were plenty. I stared at the number, confused over what to do as I began reading the many comments the people sent along with their requests.

"_You rock!"_

"_Will you be my boyfriend?"_

"_Saw you today. You were cool."_

Normally, I would press ignore without a second thought. Hell, I didn't know these people why would I bother? But lately I found myself acting very strange. My newfound attention felt actually, dare I say, rather nice. No matter how hard I tried to deny it.

Against my nature I accepted the many requests but hesitated as soon I saw someone I never thought would be on my friends list; Kiba, the guy with the mike from the other day. The mouse hovered above the Ignore button, my mind doubting the reason he added me. After the rally, Kiba had pulled me over and he congratulated me on my win. It was hard to finger point but there was definitely something about him that held my interest. With a quick decision I accepted his invite.

"_Uzumaki Naruto: Thinking about you… "_

The moment my brain registered the words, my heart began pounding. No effing way Naruto befriended me. Me, Uchiha Sasuke! Did that mean he had changed his mind? I couldn't help feeling hopeful as I quickly accepted his invite. In aftermath of it all I realized just how silly it was for me to get _that _excited by another guys invite but it was Naruto… he was special… right?

_tbc..._

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><p>Pan?<p>

あのパンは。。。ええー、コゲパン！！

Review if you think Kogepan is kool!

If you don't, he's gonna CRY D:


	5. Chapter 5

So slightly bad news;

Atm, I'm seriously considering deleting this story because I'm unsatisfied by Sasuke's character development so far. My opinion is that he's too OOC, to the point I have a hard time picturing him in front of me as I proofread... and that's bad. However, I'm not just gonna delete _awkward._ without notifying you guys first therefore I'm gonna ask you this just once;

Do you want me to continue? Because if you do, I will at least try to give this a worthy ending. For now, here's;

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><p>Part Five<p>

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><p>The upcoming days were unlike anything I ever experienced in my entire life. Since the rally, my status as the 'suicide guy' was slowly fading and instead I was becoming 'That Guy'. The name itself wasn't particularly charming but sure better than suicide guy. Never mind the fact it also made it less difficult to just blend in. Even if people still gave me looks at least they were looks of recognition and not of mockery or distaste. Not to mention the many looks I caught Naruto stealing. They were in total nine glances, counting that time we stood in the food line and our eyes accidentally met.<p>

He so wanted me. And he wanted me bad.

Also the cast was finally coming off. Three more days and the dreaded thing would be gone. Forever! The disadvantages to only having one hand were become way too many. Not to forget the awful itch as well. My arm itched like hell but there was no way to scratch it. I tried everything: a pen, a ruler, an effing stick I found on the ground but nothing helped. It simply was a mission doomed to failure.

Che.

Xx

Sakura stood by my side, Hinata on the other. The cast was coming off. Mom had sent Itachi with me as support, why I could only imagine, most likely it was her own guilt for leaving me alone all the time. Me? Well I only appreciated my time alone. Too bad mom wouldn't see that.

"What if it's disfigured? Haha I don't want a retard for a brother. You being a total geek is already enough." Itachi commented sketchily laughing at his own joke. Ever since he entered puberty he has spent all his living time giving me a hard time. My only response was my usual glare. Replying only triggered him further.

"I didn't even think of that!" Sakura butted in on the conversation her eyes wide. " I've heard sometimes the arm will shrink up because of the bones growing weirdly. It still functions but it takes some time for it to grow back to normal!"

"Seriously?" I heard Itachi question bewildered meanwhile my worries grew instantly. I couldn't afford a deformity now! Not when Naruto was finally showing his interest! I threw a desperate look towards Hinata, knowing she would know the answer but her only reply was a half assed shrug.

"I don't think… Perhaps it won't be that noticeable?" Hinata tried to comfort me but her words were anything but comforting.

"Will there be any form of deformity?" Itachi asked the doctor but his answer was lost when Sakura cut him off.

"Maybe it's fixable, like you could do something about the other arm… After all we are in a hospital, you could fix it right?"

We were all looking at the doctor hopefully, me waiting for him to disregard our theories. They were ludicrous but as long as he didn't deny them I couldn't help considering they were the truth.

"Uhm, maybe we should just get this off now." The man disregarded Sakura's question and took out an object reminding me of a pizza slicer. "I can assure you, you're not gonna feel a thing, okay?"

He said and without waiting for an answer turned the thing on. The blade started spinning and a buzzing sound engulfed the room, effectively silencing anything that could be said at that point.

I guess it wasn't one of my finest moments in life, but the worries my friends and dear brother had conjured up along with the deafening sound from the pizza slicer, I finally got enough and the world around me quickly turned black.

The next time I woke up I was lying down and my vision blurry. "Wha-?" I mumbled non-coherently, wiping a bit of drool off my chin. What? I had a bad habit of keeping my mouth open while I sleept. It's common.

"Finally, sleeping beaúty's awake." Itachi commented quick to help me up into a sitting position. "The cast is off and I wanna get out of here, I have another appointment to attend to."

"Great news Sasuke, your arm looks just like normal! You don't have to worry about looking like a freak anymore!" Sakura cried out, seemingly happy to announce my lack of deformity.

"Hn." I replied, my head feeling groggy. I tried to move my arm but realized it was immobilized which wasn't that strange once I looked down on it. The thing was being held in place by some ugly thing reminding me of a green Elmo. "What the fuck is this?" I demanded angrily. My arm was supposed to be back to normal so why was Elmo wrapped around it?

"Congrats little brother, you just lost whatever pride you still had." Itachi sniggered.

"You fractured your arm when you fainted." Hinata replied while Sakura only joined Itachi's sniggers. "But don't worry, you only have to wear it like a week the doctor said."

A WEEK! A week with friggen Elmo on my arm. HELL NO!

"Hey look on the bright side, your bicep looks thinner!"

Xx

With the cast off and Elmo a mere memory (he was quickly replaced by a simple black arm sling), blending in wasn't that hard anymore. I could actually walk down an aisle in school without having more than half the student body staring at me. It was very relieving and the stress from the previous weeks was finally easing up.

Never mind at that moment I also held a very good view of Naruto's perfect ass. He stood mere feet away taping a poster to the wall about some upcoming football game along with Kiba. My eyes followed his single move as his back muscles stretched behind his very tight t-shirt. The sight was pure eye candy could I help my eyes refused to look away? Not exactly, but either way less than a second later, a loud shrill from Sakura forced me from my trance like staring game and instead focus on my friends next to me.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Rock Lee just text messaged me!" The girl squealed as I rolled my eyes. I knew as her friend I should be happy for her, but the guy was weird and I was busy enough ogling my current obsession. My eyes moved back to Naruto only to realize his eyes were staring directly in to mine.

My heart sped up as I tried to will the embarrassment off my face from being caught staring at him but I could tell he found it amusing, his lips jerking up into a playful laugh.

"_Hey who are you looking at creepo?"_ I heard Kiba ask and watched him jump Naruto to begin a playful wrestling game.

"_Hey knock it off dog breath."_ Naruto laughed and defended himself. I watched them tumble about with slight amusement. It was something about the two friend's chumminess that fascinated me. Having grown up with mostly girls as friends, I had never really experienced a so called 'bromance'.

"_That's so cute guys but no one likes gay porn in their hallway."_ Out of nowhere had Temari appeared and now stood staring at Naruto and Kiba expectantly. I silently wished I could choke her for even trying to talk with my Naruto. Life was anything but fair. How come Naruto could be friends with a girl like Temari but wouldn't recognize me as anything but something to ogle? My personality was way better than hers add to that I didn't look like a whale in two sizes smaller than 'you wish'.

Naruto and Kiba broke off as Kiba started walking away. On his way passed me his eyes met mine, brown eyes widening in recognition. I watched his lips twist into a grin and nervously broke eye contact but that didn't stop him from coming over.

"Uchiha, how did you lose the tree branch?"

"It crossed path with a lumberjack." I half joked and felt satisfaction when Naruto chuckled. It definitely was a record. Two glances in less than a ten minute radius, Naruto clearly thought about me. My thermometer of hope filled up as I shot him a calculating look. Could it be Naruto just needed a small push in the right directio-

"FYI, it's rude to stare." The face of Temari infiltrated my field of vision, her pig-like eyes strained in a glare. "You're welcome, Sasuke."

I was two seconds away from strangling her but unfortunately she walked away just in time. The bell rang in and Kiba and Naruto said their good byes. I watched them disappear into the crowd of people and let out a pitiful sigh.

"Sasuke you should just give up. Naruto's never gonna look twice to a guy like you." Sakura commented, her voice unusually gentle.

A part of me felt bad as the memories from camp played before my eyes. Sakura was my best friend and much to my reluctance we shared everything. I had never been the sharing kind of type but maybe - just this once - it was time to tell her?

Decisions, decisions…

_tbc...?_

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><p>So, if you find yourself disagreeing with my opinion I recommend leaving a reply stating otherwise. Meanwhile I apologize for my lack of finesse but I really want to know your thoughts before deciding anything.<p>

Thank you all for R/R :heart:


	6. Chapter 6

Man, I guess I should see myself as defeated haha Thank you for telling me though, as long as Sasuke doesn't bother you, I will continue :heart: I dedicate this chapter to Charlie Uzumaki, Dragon77, ILoveFrenchFries, Aikaru, ADeadBlackRose, and 2008catgirl. If it weren't for you this story would've never gotten this far, thank you c:

* * *

><p>Part Six<p>

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><p>Throughout my life the rules of an Uchiha has been forced down my throat to the point it felt as if I would choke. An Uchiha is prideful, an Uchiha is powerful, and an Uchiha is the definition of the word graceful itself. However, when it came to me I've often wondered whether these abilities had been lost somewhere during my upbringing.<p>

Staring at one of the many posters in horror, other people's laughter and crude comments turned into a haze when all I could do was stand there, and stare. I wanted to tear it down and erase everything that had happened up until that moment but my legs were frozen solid. And nothing but the naked truth was busy staring me down.

The horrible image staring back at me burned my eyes as it showed everything and by everything, I meant everything. Judging by the scene it was taken in the gym showers, with me _showering_. Unfortunately as much as I wished I did, I didn't have the habit of showering fully clothed. The humiliation was indescribable. To think just a single picture could make me wish for an instant death, it was ridicules!

"I don't see what the deal is… It's not like there's much to show." The comment stood out when I recognized the voice and as I looked up, my last string of control finally broke.

My eyes, strained from fighting the hurt I felt, connected with awkward clear blue. I could tell Naruto knew I had heard him but just as he made a move to say something more I ran out of there, the air caught in my throat and eyes stinging. I knew by running I had just given in to the person behind the crude picture but what else should I have done? I was only human.

Escaping to the parking lot, I tried calling my brother to demand him to come pick me up. I knew I had to face the picture eventually but I sure as hell wasn't going to do it today. However my luck was bad as always and Itachi refused to pick up. I threw my bag on the ground out of frustration and sat down with a loud thump on the concrete pavement. Covering my face with my hands I wanted the earth to swallow me up then and there. My life was an official nightmare and I just wanted to wake up.

"Uchiha, what's with the long face?" Upon hearing my name I looked up only to come face to face with a big black Audi. Recognizing Kiba in the driver's seat wearing an amused grin I rolled my eyes and grunted my reply. I didn't feel like talking, much less with Kiba.

"Oi, you look like you need a ride?" Kiba pressed, however, and I answered as best as I could by sending him a confused look, not sure of what to answer. A part of me questioned his motives as we had never really been friends.

As if sensing my hesitation Kiba quickly added, "I don't bite you know. Unless, you want me to that is?" His grin widened as he stretched and opened the door.

I gave him a calculating look, not too sure of whether he was serious or not. It wasn't that I found him completely unattractive, the triangles I could live without, but my heart beat for Naruto. "I thought you had a girlfriend…?" I said, causing his grin to grow even wider.

"Relax Sasuke, it was a joke. C'mon jump in I'll give you a ride home."

I gazed down on my phone, contemplating calling Itachi again but decided against it. Instead I accepted Kiba's invitation and collected my things off the ground.

"I saw the pictures in school." Kiba began to say, his gaze locked on the road ahead. I shifted nervously against the leather seat. That was the topic I wanted to avoid the most but whether he noticed my discomfort or not, I couldn't tell because after a short pause he continued.

"It was a shitty move." He stated his voice plain and I found myself agreeing. The words didn't offer much comfort but they summarized my feelings pretty good. It was true. Whoever had done it was obviously desperate.

"Yeah… Yes, it was." I chuckled, surprising myself. Just by a few words had Kiba managed to make me feel so at ease. Our eyes met for a second while Kiba gave me a look I couldn't quite read. I raised a brow in question but whatever it was Kiba refused to answer as he broke our eye contact and went back to staring at the road.

The rest of our drive passed in silence.

Xx

"Dish everything! And you better not leave anything out Sasuke!" Sakura's demanding voice came out as an annoying buzz through the speaker of my phone. How had she even found out in the first place?

"He just gave me a ride home Sakura." I replied trying my best to make it sound as boring as possible.

"Yeah right! I've seen the looks he's been giving you Sasuke! They're anything but innocent."

"Hn." I scoffed, clicking my tongue from restrained annoyance. Even if what she said was true the feeling was anything but mutual. I liked Naruto. "It doesn't matter anyway." I mumbled hoping she wouldn't hear me.

However, Sakura had super hearing and she quickly pressed the subject. "Is this because of the Naruto fling?" She deadpanned as I was quick to defend my feelings.

"It's not a fling!"

"Sasuke I'm not saying this to be mean, but I'm your friend and you seriously need to realize Naruto's way out of your league! He's one of the jocks and there are rules. Being together with you would be social suicide and you know popular kids only care about their status. Never the less you're a guy! Does he even-"

Feeling my anger intensifying and my pride hurt I barked out without thinking. "Oh yeah, that didn't stop him at summer camp." My free hand flew up to cover my mouth as soon the words crossed my lips. That was not the way I had meant to tell her about Naruto's and mine 'encounter'.

The other end of the line was quiet for a moment before a loud shriek deafened me. "Why didn't you tell me! I'm so mad at you right now! Please tell me you haven't told Hinata about this because I thought we were best friends and best friends are supposed to know everything first! It's your obligation to tell me you jerk!

"How was it? What did you do? Did you go second base? I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"Acutally- we passed second base."

"No freaking way! Where! I can't believe _you _lost your virginity before me. It's unfair. Dish, how was it? Was it good?" Sakura's pressing questions made me squirm in my seat. It wasn't that I was a total prude but I felt weird discussing such intimate things so casually.

"It hurt a little…" I offered and was quick to change the subject. "Hinata told me Rock Lee's taking you out this weekend." Though I held no interest in the matter I knew talking about her crush would make her forget about mine, and so I tried my best at sounding interested.

Another deafening squeal echoed off the other end but this time I was prepared and quickly put a good distance between my ear and the phone.

"Yeah and can you believe it he's taking me to the freshmen's party! You know what that means right?" She asked and judging by her tone of voice she was quite excited.

"Not really." I replied, my answer getting lost in her explanation.

"Newsflash Sasuke it's a way to make a claim on what's yours! Trust me, if you show up with someone to a party like that, no one will ever look at that person again... well unless they're whores but you get the point."

Her words made me think of Naruto. I felt a bit jealous over knowing Naruto would be taking someone else to the party.

"Are you going with Naruto?"

Not really I almost answered. A part of me hoped Naruto would ask me yet the other, the rational one, knew he wouldn't. And that knowledge only depressed me further.

"I don't know." I eventually answered. "But I'm going to bed now. If I wanna work the sick card tomorrow I can't stay up talking on the phone."

"I understand Sasuke…." Sakura sympathized. "The pictures may be gone but that doesn't mean anybody's forgotten yet. Good luck tomorrow."

Mumbling thanks I told her good night but before hanging up Sakura cried out a last time. "Oh yeah, and Sasuke, don't assume you've gotten away just yet! I won't rest until you've told me _everything_ about you and Naruto, okay? Love you, ciao!"

I threw my phone on the bed happy our conversation was over and went to prepare myself for bed. I stripped out of my clothes and threw them on the floor. Searching for my jammies in the massive pile of clothes I soon found them and yanked them out. As the jammies broke free from the stack of clothes a wrinkled white sheet of paper dropped and bounced against my feet. Frowning, I picked it up and sorted it out.

Recognizing what it was I read it over once again. It was the letter from before.

_5. Pull your head out of your ass. No one cares about the invisible, that's why you're a victim, stand out and embrace the attention._

The paragraph made me think of the accident in school. Was it all because of karma that all these things happened to me? Because I wanted to be invisible, karma made me stand out?

I folded the paper and laid it on my desk, leaving it there for the time being. Ever since I received the letter I had ignored it, but perhaps instead, I should've learned from it?

tbc

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><p>Not so fun-fact:<p>

Kiba's ride is a black Audi R8 Spyder.

Sasuke's jammies is a 2-piece plain black with the Uchiha symbol on the back.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank God for painkillers, right? I finally finished the seventh chapter, please enjoy! c':

* * *

><p>Part Seven<p>

* * *

><p>The next day turned out nothing like I planned it. Itachi saw right through my feigned sickness and much to my reluctance, sent me to school telling me if I skipped out a single class he'd have me do after school classes for the rest of the year. Apparently, his opinion was for me to just take the bull by the horns and deal with my embarrassment of yesterday. To say I disagreed was only useless.<p>

In school no one bothered to hide their stares. I felt like a piece of meat in a lion's den, ready to be consumed by the starving public. I was the talk of the school, again. It had come to the point I was almost getting used to it. Perhaps this was my greater calling in life; to be of the amusement of others? Either way I was beginning to believe my theory of being cursed was true.

The library was my escape during lunch break, Sakura and Hinata had tried calling me out but I refused to leave my sanctuary. During lunch the library was mostly empty and so I didn't have to deal with people's stares or crude comments. It was nice for a change and in there I could catch up on some much needed studying.

Lunch break neared its end when a shadow cast over my books and made me look up. I was surprised to see Naruto standing in front of me. Wetting my lips I found myself speechless as I remembered his comment from yesterday.

Naruto wore a troubled expression as he took a seat across of mine. "Hey." He said casually but I could tell there was slight hesitation in his voice. "I've been looking for you."

"Why? To make fun of me like you did yesterday?" I bit back, my hurt from before coming back to me. Somehow whenever it came to Naruto I lost whatever confidence I had and left was only a bundle of anxious nerves.

"I-" Naruto began to say but I quickly cut him off with a glare. My eyes were starting to sting and I sure as hell wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much power he held over me.

"You know what. Whatever you have to say keep it to yourself. I don't give a fuck." I said my throat feeling thick. "I need to go." Without waiting for a reply I stacked my books into a pile and took them under my arm and left. Once out of his vision I grabbed at my heart and let out a dry sob. As much as I wanted to hate Naruto I couldn't.

Feeling a buzz in my pocket I fished up my phone and slid my thumb across the screen. Reading one new message I opened it and groaned upon seeing it was from Anko the school counselor.

_Hiya Sasuke! Come to my office after school, we'll share some dango and do some seriously wicked boy to girl talk! Inoriiite! Sounds great doesn't it! Can't wait!_

_Xoxo Anko_

Just what I needed! I willed my twitching brow to a stop, Naruto momentarily forgotten. I wanted to reply to tell her what I really thought of her but my better judgment held me back. Knowing Itachi, he would only tell my parents and that was a circus I rather avoided.

I grunted as I thought of the letter lying on the desk in my room at home.

_3. The only people more pathetic than you are your friends. Drop the dead weight._

Whoever wrote the letter had obviously not met Anko. The woman was an incarnation of the Janitor from the show scrubs. They were just as awkward, annoying and odd only the Janitor was just a fictional character, Anko was not. It wasn't hard to guess what role she had played out in High school. Che.

The rest of the day's classes passed in the blink of an eye. The second to last class was finally over when Hinata and I waved Sakura good bye. She took history while we had art class. On our way passed one of the bathrooms I pulled Hinata to the side and told her to wait outside. Caught by surprise Hinata nodded and slurred something under her breath I couldn't make out.

Inside the bathroom I went up to one of the faucets to wash my hands. It was during our last class I'd accidentally touched something gooey that now made my hands smell like something akin to a rotten fish. Yeah, it was pretty disgusting.

Out of pure habit I looked up when the door to the bathroom opened and watched a rather tall guy with a strange grin on his lips enter. I silently scoffed at his macho looking attitude and went back to drying my hands. When I turned to walk back to Hinata the guy stepped in front of me and if possible his beaming smile grew even wider. Feeling my private space being invaded I tried to walk passed him but he extended his hand and grabbed a hold of my wrist. "Hey." He said his voice smooth and in my opinion way too confident. It wasn't hard to figure out what he wanted.

I pulled my hand back and fixed him under a glare, trying to look as intimidating as I could even if he was about a head taller than me. "Look, I need to get to class so would you move." I said while clicking my tongue annoyed. It took a lot of restraint to not just push him out of my way.

The guy chuckled as I watched him close the remaining distance between us. "I saw the posters yesterday and I must say I totally dig." No fucking way. No one says 'dig' anymore. I watched him, horrified, as he made a pass on me and actually dared to touch my butt. I quickly slapped his hand away my glare intensifying. "Don't ever do that again!" I growled and shoved him out of my way, tired of playing it nice as it so obviously didn't work.

But the guy was persistent and jogged up to me. "Don't be like that." He said, apparently dead set on keeping me in the room and reached out to grab a hold of me again. Feeling my temper had reached its limit I boxed him in the stomach effectively knocking the breath out of his lungs. For once I felt thankful Itachi used me as his own punching bag when we were younger, at least it had taught me how to defend myself.

I left the guy on the floor, rolling my eyes at his easy defeat. When I then exited the bathroom students were gathered around the door in a half circle, ogling me as if I had just killed a man.

"What?" I asked my voice coming out darker than it should have. The door wasn't see-through, it was impossible they knew what had happened on the other side. I scanned the small crowd and noticed Naruto was one of them. For some reason he gave me a look of anger and then walked away with a shake of his head.

I searched for Hinata and quickly found her asking her what I had so obviously missed.

"T-the guy who entered said he and you were going to do s-stuff…" Hinata explained, her eyes shifting nervously from side to side. "D-Do you know him Sasuke?"

"Of course I don't." I said grounding my teeth. I'd never seen the creep until that moment ago and I rather had it stay that way. "Exactly what do you mean by stuff…?"

"Y-you know, s-stuff…"

Feeling my face heat up, I snatched back my books from Hinata. "We're getting late to class." I mumbled annoyed and without waiting pushed my way through the dissolving crowd.

When school was finally out I drew a silent breath of relief, now I could go back to hiding my face for the rest of the day. But first, I had to make the quick stop by the student counselor. The talk with Anko was a repeat of our other exchanges. Her overly elated brashness annoyed me to the point I almost considered stabbing her with the pencil she used to twiddle between her fingers with.

Whatever I said she always gave my words a misleading twist.

"I want you to know we're doing everything to find whoever did take that picture of you yesterday Sasuke. It wasn't a very nice thing to do."

No shit. "Hn."

"It's okay, between you and me as soon as we find them, we'll make them pay. Won't we Sasuke?" Anko winked and leaned back satisfied in her seat.

"Right..." _Crazy woman_. Not sure of what to say I decided to change the topic. "I have a question…"

"Really?" Anko cheered almost jumping in her seat. I could only guess why. "Tell me!"

"Uh yeah," Frowning, I hesitated for a second to choose my next words wisely. "I've been wondering when I can stop coming to these meetings…" It was weird. It felt like I was breaking up with her.

"Stop coming…" Anko repeated while quirking her eyebrows making it easy for me to read her surprise.

"Yeah…"

"Why do you want this to end? Don't you like me is that it? You think you're all better and don't need me anymore right?"

"I-" I began but was cut off.

"Because I'll tell you right now, you might think you're all high and mighty with those good looks of yours but that doesn't allow you to walk all over me. "

"But I'm not." I pressed my brow strained.

"You have to understand the reason I'm doing this is to keep you safe and alive." Anko gave me a look of pity and that was all it took for me to cry out, "I don't need your _protection_. There's nothing wrong with me!"

Anko pursed her lips and I could tell she disagreed. "You can't bottle everything up Sasuke. You're only human and it's definitely not healthy. I want you to see my room as a safe zone, a place to share your secrets. It would pain me a lot if you were to try committing suicide again. You're my most favorite student don't you see that?" She leaned over the desk and playfully nudged me in the stomach but before I had the time to tell her off she was already back in her seat, arranging the papers scattered on her desk.

"I think that finishes everything for now unless you have something else to add?" She said and gave me an expectant look.

"Hn." _Schizo bitch_.

Xx

Come nightfall and I laid on my bed checking my blabberzone account. Since my recent boost in 'popularity' my notifications was filled with random friend requests and inappropriate comments. So far in total eight people wanted to date me while two just wanted to fuck.

I rolled to the side and let out a sigh of exasperation. Apparently people weren't ready to let me forget my most recent embarrassment just yet. I gazed back at the computer and halfheartedly scrolled down the site to see if there was anyone worth answering.

_Need 2 talk 2 U…_

My heart made a small hoop when I noticed Naruto had messaged me but I quickly clicked delete, set on ignoring whatever he had to say. When it came to Naruto, my best choice was to just forget about him. And that was just what I would do.

I shut the lid closed, deciding on watching a movie to take my mind off of everything else. Thirty minutes into the movie I started nodding off. The movie I watched was In Time but the plot was getting old and the main characters Robin Hood complex was growing annoying.

I sighed out loud and made to shut the movie off when I felt someone standing behind me. I threw my head to the side, half expecting it to be Itachi back from work, but instead my eyes landed on a tall blond. "What are_ you_ doing here? Never mind how did you get in!" I asked although I already knew the answer to the latter one. Stupid Itachi.

"Please just hear me out before you kick me out." It was Naruto standing in _my _room. Had I fallen asleep or was Naruto actually standing in my room?

"Hn." I said somewhere between a scoff and a grunt. A part of me jumped of joy, while the other questioned the blond's motive. To say I was surprised was an understatement. I watched him nervously shift his feet on the thick carpet, his eyes going everywhere but me.

"Uhm," he started. His face looked troubled and all I wanted was to say something to ease his anxiousness but I remained firmly in place, reminding myself of what Naruto had said the other day. "I'm here because you… you won't let me apologize… I'm so sorry. About yesterday… What you heard."

"It's fine. I'm over it." I mumbled looking away from Naruto. It was a lie but I didn't like when others held an upper hand over me. Better I felt like shit rather than anyone knowing about it.

"But it's not fine!" Naruto barked out obviously frustrated but by what I couldn't tell. He closed the distance between us and grabbed my hand to squeeze it lightly. I wanted to pull away yet my hand remained still.

"I want you to know I wasn't trying to make fun of you. I guess I just wanted to take some of the attention off of the pictures, trust me. I actually think you look pretty hot... "A long moment passed when we just stared at each other, my mind busy fighting a minor civil war on whether to forgive him or not. However, it didn't take long until I settled on which one.

I drew a heavy breath enough to make me slightly dizzy and stood on my tiptoes to press my lips against Naruto's. I could tell Naruto's insecurities but as soon as I pushed up against his body to deepen the kiss, his hands came to rest on my hips and he responded by pushing his tongue inside my mouth. The kiss we shared seemed to last forever before we pulled apart to catch our breath.

"You're an idiot." My voice came out below a whisper even though I tried to put as much force into it as possible. Naruto had once again managed to sweep me off my feet and I was immediately thrown back in Lala-land.

"I know." Naruto chuckled but I could tell he was serious. Naruto cared and by knowing that I pressed our lips together again. Perhaps it was time I made some lemonade out of all the lemons.

_tbc_

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><p>I just want to steal a second to once again thank all of you for your lovely reviews. They help keep me going! love you guys~<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

_So, the reply link to everybody's comments was somehow broken, so I'm so sorry I didn't reply and thank you all for your wonderful comments and well-wishes_. But, I want you to know; You guys are the best! :wheee:

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><p>Part Eight<p>

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><p>The next upcoming days Naruto couldn't keep his hands off of me, not that I could of him. I would walk down a corridor between classes and he'd surprise me by pulling me to the side and attack me to start very hot make out sessions.<p>

Our relationship had taken a complete U turn but one thing still bothered me. Though I didn't want to complain about our sexual relationship, because believe me it was great, I still felt as if he didn't want to admit to our mutual feelings for one another. And that felt troubling, as, as girly it made me feel, I didn't want a fuck buddy. I wanted Naruto completely, all to myself, feelings and all that shit that came with every relationship between two lovers.

"Are you okay? You seem distracted?" Naruto panted his thrust slowing down as he looked at me through concerned eyes. It was lunch time when Naruto had dragged me off to the gym utility closet for a quickie.

"Not distracted." I replied and bit the inside of my chin to muffle a groan. "I was just thinking…"

Naruto looked surprised through his flustered state. "Of what?" He asked.

"The party… this weekend."

"Are you going?"

"Uh – nngh - probably." It was weird to think we would have this discussion in the middle of our very healthy exorcise. "A-are you?"

"If there's free booze y'know." Naruto replied through something between a chuckle and groan implying his attendance. "Maybe I'll see you there." He added just before I had time to ask if he wanted to go together. It almost felt like he had sensed my question coming and thus decided to terminate it before I even got the chance to think it. With rejection written across my face I pulled Naruto down and initiated him to a kiss to hide my distress.

I clawed at his back when a well-aimed thrust made my eyes blur and my toes curled up. I could feel my orgasm closing in and urged Naruto on by meeting his every trust. Shortly thereafter I came hard on both our abdomens, Naruto not far behind.

Climbing down from my high I watched Naruto grab a piece of cloth from next to us and wipe us both clean. I wrinkled my nose in slight disgust when he threw it to the side along with the used condom. Never mind it was unsanitary I could only imagine what Gai would say once he found it – a thing he was prone to do. Whether Naruto noticed my restlessness I couldn't tell, he was already up on his feet getting dressed.

We kissed good bye and, like always after sex, Naruto quickly left, leaving an awkward silence behind. After a long moment I eventually rolled my eyes and emitted a tired sigh. I had panned about asking him to the Freshmen's Party but as always Naruto was gone before I even got the time to ask him.

Xx

"Uchiha! Saved you a seat!" Kiba barked across the classroom momentarily earning all attention even the teacher's. I frowned as I made my way over to the brunet and grudgingly accepted the seat offered to me.

"Something wrong Sasuke?" I heard Kiba ask but was gratefully saved by the bell. The teacher didn't waste a second before he began writing on the board, introducing a new formula of molecules – something I was way too tired to even try to comprehend at that moment. Having sex with Naruto had left me tired, and as much as I tried to ignore it, the pain in my lower back made it hard to keep focus.

I found myself drifting off, my thoughts going back to Naruto and why he seemed to oppose our relationship so much. It's not like I wanted him to tell everyone about our relationship but the fact he seemed scared of even being near me in a crowded place was infuriating.

My eyes wandered over to Kiba as I studied him carefully. Kiba, obviously, didn't care who he hung out with. He wasn't afraid of talking to me in public or anything, and he was one of the popular kids, so how come Naruto showed such reluctance?

In the next second my thoughts were cut short when Kiba nudged me on the shoulder. "Earth to Sasuke..?"

I jumped back when I suddenly noticed Kiba's confused face only inches away. "What?" I replied slightly flustered and shifted in my seat to put some distance between us. It felt uncomfortable to have him so close and invade my private space.

"I was just asking whether you wanted to team up on the lab or not?"

"Un, sure." I gave him a slight nod and opened my books to the page written on the whiteboard. Realizing I understood nothing from the text I emitted a hopeless groan while damning my previous spacing out.

"It's all right Sasuke." Kiba patted my back baring his canines. "It's not too hard really." He then continued and pulled up closer to my chair. I wanted to tell him off but got distracted when he started explaining the assignment. I soon came to realize even though Kiba sometimes acted quiet stupid, he was actually quite smart. His explanation was easy to understand and so we began working.

In the next twenty minutes we worked in silence, only communicating by sharing our calculations and notes. It wasn't until class neared its end that Kiba started shifting anxiously in his seat that I broke our mutual silence to ask him what was wrong. Not that I cared, really, I just found him annoying.

"You got plans for the weekend?" He asked while grinning nervously like an idiot. Thoughts of Naruto and me meeting up for some adult playtime flashed before my eyes but I knew I couldn't tell him that so I kept my mouth shut.

"I don't really… My friends are making me go to this party." I said meekly, hating how my words came out so disorganized. Stupid Naruto making me seem dumb.

"You mean the official Freshmen's Party?" Kiba hurriedly filled in, his impatient nature not letting me finish. I got the feeling he became more confident as he beamed down on me, his shoulder nudging mine. "Are you… bringing a date?" Though his smile was teasing I could tell there was some honest in there too. He genuinely wanted to know. And that was slight confusing because, why would he care?

"Not really." I replied coolly in an attempt to cover up the real disappointment I felt from Naruto's rejection. I gazed over the clock to see the bell was only minutes away from ringing. I snapped shut my books in anticipation of school finishing for the day.

"Cool." Kiba replied and left an awkward silence behind. I could tell by the look in his eyes he wanted me to ask back, and the only reason I did was to stop his creepy staring. Really. I wasn't interested.

"Tenten's making me." He said but it was hard to judge whether he was happy about it or not, because his lips were twisted into something between a frown and a smile. Oh well.

"Like me then." I cracked a small smile but it died quickly as the school bell rung out. I tossed my books into my bag and slung in over my shoulder ready to leave.

"I'll see you there!" Kiba's words got lost in the other student's chatter and it wasn't until I was outside the classroom that I registered what he'd said. I pondered the idea going back but decided against it as I was already half my way to the locker. A small smile crept over my lips, why? I couldn't tell.

_tbc_

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><p>To <strong>Kaname-luvr<strong>: Thank you for pointing it out. To be honest I haven't had the time to proofread yet, but as soon as I do I'll see to it.

This chapter is not betaed. I'm sorry, but what with my arm, upcoming exams, and work I haven't had the time and I find it more important to update rather than I don't. I hope you all don't mind D: If you find anything, would you mind pointing it out? xoxo


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry for the long wait. So, I found out what was wrong with my arm. It seems I have an infection in the very bone, and because it hurts, I've had trouble getting myself to write anything really. But, I'm back, hopefully :)

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><p>Part Nine<p>

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><p>"No Sasuke, just… No." Itachi glared at me through strained eyes. "You can't go like that! Seriously, what were you thinking picking clothes like that?"<p>

Frowning under his demanding eyes I studied the clothes I wore, finding nothing wrong with them. It was just a high school party. It's not like I'd be the only one wearing a t-shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. You need to grow some sense of style Sasuke. This is not acceptable!" Itachi said with a disappointed click of his tongue and dragged me off to his bedroom to look for other clothes. I stood in the doorway and watched him throw garment after garment onto the floor, releasing dissatisfied snorts every now and then.

"It's fine Itachi, really, I don't need anything-" I tried telling him but my words were abruptly muffled by a piece of cloth as Itachi threw a gray cardigan over me. Annoyed I pulled it off my head and glared at the clothing as if it were the devil itself. "What is this?" I demanded, having never considered myself as a cardigan wearing type of guy. They were for old men… and Itachi.

"Stop glaring at it little brother, I promise it won't attack you." Itachi smirked knowing damn well my opinion about the piece of cloth. Snorting, I threw the shirt a quick look and replied, "Hn. It won't fit me though." With victory in my hands I started giving the shirt back to Itachi but he refused it and only pushed more clothes into my hands.

"They're old so they should fit you. Now put it on…"Itachi urged on. He continued by pushing me further inside the closet and then closed the door to give me privacy to change. I sighed reluctantly and accepted my defeat. Once Itachi decided upon something fighting was only futile.

I dressed quickly and stared shocked into the mirror once I was fully dressed. The clothes Itachi had chosen for me were surprisingly good looking and for the first time I actually felt a bit… sexy. I devoted a thought to what Naruto would say once he saw me but was interrupted by Itachi banging on the door. I threaded a hand through my hair to add to its volume and opened the door.

Itachi's satisfied, although a bit scary, smile made me purse my lips in slight obedience. I hated whenever he proved me wrong, he never let me live it down afterwards. "I hate it." I lied and crossed my arms to prove my point but this only made Itachi chuckle.

"You're a terrible liar little brother." He walked up to me and straightened the cardigan and fixed the dress shirt's collar. "You're going to blow everybody's minds." His toothy smirk almost made me believe him and I straightened from the momentarily boosted confidence.

"Hn." I didn't care about other people's opinions. All I cared about was Naruto's. Hearing the buzz from my phone, Sakura informed that Hinata and she was ready for Itachi and me to come pick them up. The clock was nearing ten and the party had started at eight. Hopefully Naruto would be there by the time we got there.

I finished up at home and we got going, picking Sakura and Hinata up on the way and then eventually arriving to the party. Music blasted through the open windows and people moved busily inside the large house. Not counting the yearly camp's 'event', this was my first party since Hyuuga Neji's birthday party when we were eight. It wasn't like I didn't want to go to them, but with a reputation like mine in junior high it had been hard to get an invitation.

I cringed as Sakura eagerly cried out in my ear, "I can see Lee from here!" and started waving like an idiot before we even had the time to get out of the car.

"He can't see you Sakura." I tried to remind her but just then Lee started waving back just as enthusiastically, automatically proving me wrong. At that moment it took all my might just to not sucker punch them both. Two equally stupid people… Was that what you called a match made in heaven? I wasn't all that sure.

Itachi dropped us off, leaving with the usual line, 'don't do anything I wouldn't do' which was pretty stupid actually, since that practically meant do whatever. What could I say? My brother kept low standards.

Sakura ran up to her boyfriend and attached herself to his arm like a leech, leaving Hinata and I to go through the door alone and enter the big loud house. As soon as we set foot inside, I was reminded of the zoo. People were running around like crazy, they were dancing and throwing stuff. In better words, it was complete chaos.

Red cups filled with a pink liquid were shoved into our hands as a girl came up to us, her smile crooked and eyes droopy. She was obviously intoxicated. "Welcome!" She said and caught me unguarded as she kissed me on the lips. It took a second for me to react but I quickly shoved her out of my way and took Hinata's hand to move further inside the house and as far away from the molester as possible. Really, I had never been to a party like this before, but to be ambushed as soon as we entered the door? It felt silly, like I was the lead in some poorly written college movie.

I heard a low protest from Hinata but her struggle died down and she followed obediently. I took us to what I presumed was the lounge and activated my Naruto scanner. No matter how many people were in the room, somehow, I could always spot Naruto. It was like some kind of built in radar.

"I don't think he's here." I heard Hinata say, her voice slightly trembling from what I assumed was anxiousness. She had never been one for crowded areas.

"I guess." I replied and didn't care to hide the disappointment in my voice. Time moved slowly as we stood mostly by ourselves on the sideline and listened to the same repetitive tasteless music thundering off the walls. Every now and then someone would walk up to us in their drunken state of mind but neither Hinata or I was interested in sharing a conversation with anyone else but each other, so we pretty much ignored whomever tried.

In fact, we remained in our own little world until I spotted a tuft of blond hair that I would recognize anywhere. It was Naruto, he had finally arrived. I licked my lips, Hinata's words blending in to the background as Naruto became the center of my world. Without thinking, my feet started to move and I crossed the floor, leaving a stunned Hinata to fend for herself.

Like always, Naruto stood out from the crowd of people he was busy chatting to. Even though he only wore a simple striped dress shirt and a pair of jeans, he made such an impact with his stunning looks. No one could even begin to measure up to his magnitude. And I was sure many people shared my opinion.

I cleared my throat once I stood behind him and thus earned his attention. As soon as our eyes met his lit up with something I could only guess was passion and he sent me a secretive smile. "Sasuke." He said and wet his lips, my eyes carefully following the familiar pink tongue. In my mind I wanted to kiss him but knew the gesture would be unwelcome so instead I settled on playing it casual.

"I almost thought you wouldn't show up." I said coolly and adopted a smug smile of my own. Our relationship was supposed to be kept a secret but oh how I hated it. I had once thought accepting my sexuality would be the hardest thing I would ever have to do in life but unfortunately I had been wrong. Being with Naruto was tough, but it definitely beat not being with him at all.

"Well here I am." He replied with a tint of unease. From behind him, I could tell his friends were leaning in on our conversation and so directed them all under one of my best frowns.

"You all right?" I questioned after a short silence, my brow furrowed confused and eyes eventually moving back to stare into Naruto's.

"Of course." He said almost too quickly and refused looking at me. He seemed to be indecisive, torn between an inner predicament and judging by his next words I realized just what that was. "Um, I'll see you around Sasuke." He said my name like it was foreign to him. It was obvious I had been rejected and I watched him in slow motion turn back to his friends to continue whatever conversation I had interrupted.

I stood frozen behind him, shocked by his sudden turn in attitude. I had almost come to the point where I accepted the fact he had a reputation to maintain and thus wanted to keep our relationship to ourselves, but now he could not even share a friendly conversation with me just because some of his friends were watching? The truth was painful.

My heart stung and I forced my legs to move. I grabbed the closest thing to a drink and forced it down in one chunk. The taste was bitter, my face shriveling up in disgust, but at that moment I cared less about the taste. Naruto had hurt me and I had to ease the numbness I felt in some way and getting drunk seemed like the perfect solution at that moment.

I downed one drink after another and soon lost count of how many I had had. My world eventually started to spin and I began to feel tired and dizzy. I crawled up a wooden stair and fell into a room two people were getting it on in. "Get out." I cried out and glared at them both.

The couple said something but I was too focused on the comfortable looking bed to even try and feign my interest. I fell down on the bed and eventually watched the two leave, a satisfied grin on my lips.

I must have dozed off because I was jerked away by a door slamming shut. Tiredly and rather nauseous, I turned in the direction of the sound and saw a blurry figure close in on the bed. "Sakura...? ...Hinata?" I questioned and closed my eyes to keep the world from spinning. Unfortunately a move like that only made it worse.

I felt a hand touch my forehead followed by a low murmur. I struggled to make out what they had said but only came up with the answer that the voice was too dark to belong to any female. "Who are you…?" I demanded, my voice coming out pathetically weak.

"…-getsu"

"Getsu?" I repeated as I couldn't recall anyone by that name. I moved away from the hand that had lingered on my forehead and frowned, annoyed by the fact that someone I didn't know had dared to touch me. "I don't know you?" I said, and glared at the fuzzy shadow of a bulky male.

"Of cou-….-ou do… W… -met the other day. In the-"

"School bathrooms." I finished, immediately recalling the meeting with a very persistent but foremost annoying guy. "I thought I made it clear I wasn't interested." I murmured my voice cold.

"Right…" The guy said and the next thing I know something was touching my leg… In a place I didn't want anyone else but Naruto to touch. I swapped his hand away drunkenly and hissed angrily for him to stop but the guy was persistent.

"C'mon, I just want to have some fun." He pressed and locked my wrist to my sides. I struggled to break free but in my drunken state and his incredible strength I found it hard to break free from his hold.

"Stop it." I barked out and slammed my head right into his nose. The guy let out a squeak of pain and his hold loosened around my wrists enough for me to break free. I shoved him off of me and scurried to my feet. "Don't you ever dare touching me again." I warned him my tone lethal and escaped back to the party. On my way down the hallway I clung to the walls, my vision still slightly blurred.

When someone suddenly pulled at my wrist I thought it was the Getsu guy from before and therefore directed a punch at the other's face, but my fist was blocked and I heard a voice I recognized. It was Naruto.

"Hey, I've been looking for you. Where were you?" I damned Naruto's timing and tore my hand from his grip. "Why do you even care?" I heard myself question before I had the time to stop the words from coming out.

"What do you mean? I thought you wanted to see me." Naruto chuckled as if something was funny. It only spurred to my anger. Given any other time I would have done everything in my power to keep control of my anger, I was too afraid Naruto would leave me if I started anything, but I wasn't in complete control of my emotions, and after almost being raped by some weirdo, my emotions were in utter chaos.

"You're wrong." I barked out angrily and shoved passed him only to be caught yet again by the arm. "Let go." I grunted through clenched teeth and made to pull my arm away but Naruto had already let go.

"What's wrong?" He questioned his voice somewhat odd. "Talk to me Sasuke."

"You want to know what's wrong?" I cried out and Naruto nodded vigorously. "I guess I'm just tired of always being forced to stand in your shadow! I mean I thought you were different but all you care about is your goddamn reputation!" In the heat of the moment I had attracted the attention of everyone in the hallway. Fortunately there were only a few people but Naruto was quick to shush me and forced me up against a wall. I winced when my back hit the wall and nursed it as Naruto stepped back.

"I-I'm sorry Sasuke." He said, and I could tell he was regretful. I wanted to forgive him but instead I just glared at him and said the three words I knew would end our relationship for good. "I hate you." It was a lie but at that moment I just wanted to hurt Naruto as much as he had hurt me and with that said I took my escape and ran down the stairs.

When I was about to leap the last step of the stair I stumbled over my own foot and lost my balance. I braced myself for the hard collision with the floor but shockingly it never came. I opened my eyes having closed them a few seconds earlier, and was faced by the familiar smile belonging to Kiba.

"Hey, perhaps you should take it a bit easy there Sasuke." Kiba's caring voice broke through my drunken numbness and in my own desperation I threw my arms around his neck and clung to him as if my life depended on it.

I could feel Kiba stiffen under my weight and he awkwardly put his arms around my back and gave it a light pat. "Um, are you okay Sasuke?" He questioned but I couldn't get myself to answer and so remained silent.

Kiba accepted my silence and eased his hold around me. "You know what I think you could use?"

I shook my head slightly confused.

"I think some fresh air would do you some good right about now, don't you think so?"

I frowned but nodded nonetheless in hopes that it would help against the dizziness. I let him help me walk by leaning on his shoulder. Outside we found a bench to sit on and luckily no one else was there. At that point all I wanted was to be alone so that I could drown in my own despicable mess.

"I think I've fucked up." I admitted to no one in particular. I just had to vent some of my distress and unfortunately Kiba was the one there to listen to it. Without intending to, I had said some pure bullshit to Naruto and I was scared it would be the end of our strange relationship, if you could even call it that. My breathing came out ragged, the anxiousness I felt so overwhelming to the point it felt like I would choke.

Kiba kept a hand on my back stroking it lightly. The action made my skin crawl, but I was so focused on trying to breathe that I couldn't tell him to remove it. "You should try to calm down Sasuke. It will make breathing much easier." Kiba offered his word of advice which I dismissed with a mental eye roll. No shit, that was exactly what I was trying to do but it was easier said than done.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

I shook my head no and gathered as much air as I could and replied. "Shouldn't you go be with your girlfriend?" I asked him, hoping he would leave me alone to delve in my own sorrow.

"Ah…" Kiba appeared thoughtful. "I'm, I mean we're not… uhm, together, anymore... I'm kind of interested in someone else anyhow." He gave me a weird look, an expression of which I couldn't read and then averted his eyes. The silence that lingered was uncomfortable but I was clueless of what to say so I remained silent, lost in my own thoughts. By that time I had finally managed to calm down and the world stopped spinning as violently.

"Sometimes I wish feelings weren't that complicated, you know what I'm talking 'bout right?" Kiba eventually barked out, causing me to slightly jump as I wasn't prepared of his sudden outburst.

"Yeah…" I found myself agreeing and gave him an apprehensive smile. If Naruto's and my relationship had been less complicated perhaps I wouldn't had said those things to him. After all they weren't true, or they were, but I was willing to accept it if only that meant I could be with him. In my small world, Naruto was the only one to keep me sane. If given the chance I would have taken back the things I had said and just kept my mouth shut. But I couldn't… It was too late.

"One should just stop caring, right?" Kiba said and let out a loud sigh. Once again I agreed. He threw me a look full of frustration and I couldn't help but to meet his eyes. We remained in silence, just staring into each other's eyes and then it happened. Kiba leaned towards me and I didn't push him away. Our lips collided in a chaste kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.

A flash of Naruto played on the back of my eyes and I realized what I was doing. Kiba was just about to put his hand on my cheek when I swatted it away and broke the kiss. I stared wide eyed into his eyes, shocked by my own actions. I liked Naruto not Kiba. He was merely a friend.

The tension could be cut by a knife as neither of us knew what to say but then suddenly there was a loud boom, earning both our attention. My head shot in the direction of the loud noise and I noticed Sakura standing on the porch, her face twisted into something between a grin and look of surprise.

"SAKE! I BEN LOOKIN YOU ALL NIGHT! C'MON WE 'BOUT TO INITIATE ZE 'CUZZI! STOP BEN SUCH DRAG! PAAAARTY! WOOOOHHH!"

Wtf...

_tbc_

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><p>AN: I think Sakura meant to say "Sasuke, I've been looking for you all night. Come on, we're about to initiate the jacuzzi! Stop being such a drag." but I'm not sure... hmm...<p>

As Always, to both my readers and reviewers, thank you so much for your support! Reading your reviews make me all fuzzy inside! o/w/o I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know I did writing it! *cough notice I made it longer cough* xD Please let me know what you think? :heart:


	10. Chapter 10

I'm back! Yay! Bad news for me, good news for you; I got fired from work and so I finally had the time to complete part 10! Woo~** Please scribble something ****down ****in a review and let me know what you think!** Enjoy!

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><p>Part Ten<p>

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><p>The blaring beep from the preset alarm clock woke me the next day. Using inhuman speed I reached out and killed the earsplitting noise, groaning as the after effects of yesterday caught up with me. My head pounded as if someone had used it as their own personal punching bag and the sun shining in through the lightly covered windows glared into my eyes like a scorching fire.<p>

The rebellious part of me might have thought drinking was a good way to escape my emotions but as an afterthought, I was man enough to admit it had not been my wisest choice that far. Why the hell did people drink if feeling like this was the price?

Admitting defeat I pulled the comforter over my head. If only for a few seconds it offered me some comfort. Through my silent cries of self-pity the sound of muffled footsteps added to my blasted headache. Already knowing whose they were I barked out for him to leave.

But whether Itachi heard me or not remained a question as he only responded by laughing, adding more pain to my misery. "I take it you had a good time yesterday." His tone was amused and I rolled my eyes at him. I didn't even remember how I got home.

"Beat it." I tried telling him off yet again but Itachi annoyingly stood his ground unfazed by my glare. Not that it surprised me. Judging by the way I felt my glare probably matched it.

"Anyway it's time to get up. Breakfast's ready and you got things to do today." Itachi said and left as quickly as he had made his entrance.

I resigned my defiance and lazily made my way to the bathroom for some much needed aspirin. I took the jar, this time careful of what I was doing. I rather have died than repeat the accident from the end of summer vacation. I swallowed two pills hoping for a quick effect and splashed my face with cold water.

When I got back in the bedroom my phone went off signaling someone was calling. Not remembering where I had put it the night before I searched frantically after it and luckily had the time to answer before the caller had the time to hang up.

"Yeah?" I questioned confused wondering who was stupid enough to call so early in the morning. In my hurry I had forgot reading the caller ID.

"Sasuke?" The voice of Naruto flooded my ears and I flushed red remembering our last discussion. Naruto was the last person I expected to call me after that shameless confrontation.

"N-Naruto." I stuttered, my embarrassment taking the better of me.

"How are you feeling?" Naruto continued casually but his voice held a certain nervous tone to it so I could tell there was more to this call than just mindless chatter.

"I've been better." I tried to joke but failed rather miserably when my voice came out shaky.

"Great." The awkward silence that followed made me nervously lick my lips as I waited for Naruto to break up. I knew after what I had said there was no way Naruto would continue our relationship, if one could even call it that.

"About yesterday-" Naruto started saying but I was quick to cut him off. "Sorry, I didn't mean um, I mean." But I never got to finish what I was about to say, not that I knew what that was, before Naruto returned the favor and silenced me. "I'm the one who should be sorry… I had no clue you felt that way and coz of that I'm sorry." Naruto's voice slowly died his voice growing fainter by each word. "I bet you must be disgusted by me right."

Shocked I sat staring at nothing in particular, trying to understand what was happening. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined Naruto would be the one to say sorry. I was the one whom had acted like an overemotional retard in front of people nonetheless!

"Um, Sasuke?" Naruto questioned a bit worried. I guess he must have expected a reply and when he never got one his concern grew.

"Naruto I didn't…what I mean is, I don't know why I said that yesterday." That was a lie. I had said it to hurt him but now when I was sober and had calmed down I realized my mistake. The last thing I wanted was to lose Naruto and if lying could make him stay, I'd be happy to. "I was kind of drunk…"

"So you don't hate me?" I didn't know whether it was my imagination or not but Naruto almost sounded hopeful.

"… Not really." I responded a bit flustered. I hated talking about my emotions.

"Good." Naruto said a bit more confident. "I'm not ready for this to end yet."

I smiled slightly thinking I agreed but my smile died when the kiss with Kiba flashed before my eyes and I remembered what I had done. In my drunken emotional mess I had let Kiba kiss me, thus, indirectly cheating on Naruto. I grew nervous as multiple scenarios played before me of how Naruto found out. "Um, I need to go." I said even though hanging up was the last thing on my mind. Consequently I knew I had to get a hold of Kiba to tell him the kiss meant nothing and that he should just forget about it before he had a chance to expose my despicable moment of weakness.

Naruto sounded confused but eventually hung up with a promise he would come over later. Feeling giddy over my rare case of luck, I looked forward to it knowing damn well what would happen.

I tried calling Kiba but the phone went straight to voice mail. Slightly aggravated I threw the phone on the bed and made my way down to Itachi to have my breakfast, hoping Kiba wouldn't get hold of Naruto first and tell him everything.

**Xx**

By midday Sakura had hunted me down and dragged me off to the mall for some much needed coffee. She sat on the other side of the table yapping about her date with Lee and how much fun they had had. It almost made me feel bad when all I could focus on was the cup in my hand and Kiba. The guy still refused to answer his phone and the longer he left me hanging the more anxious I got. I kept telling myself it was only a matter of time before Naruto would call me and finally end it.

My thoughts were broken when I felt the cold touch of something on my hand and instinctively pulled it back. "Are you even listening to me?" Sakura's questioning voice intruded my dazed mind but before I got the time to answer she pointed my attention elsewhere. "Oi nine o'clock."

I turned in my seat and accidentally locked eyes with my hated rival Tenten. I gazed back at Sakura and released a frustrated sigh as the inevitable confrontation was sure to come. Sure enough, as predicted, in the mere moment of seconds she and her so-called friends stood by our table frowning down on us.

Through a silent agreement Sakura and I decided not to encourage the bitch any further and continued talking as if everything was normal. Of course Tenten would have none of that and cut in on our discussion by releasing an ugly chuckle. I met her gaze as if asking 'what', being extra careful to let my hate for her burn passionately in my eyes.

Annoyingly Tenten remained unfazed. "So, I heard you made a total fool out of yourself yesterday… Sasu_gay_." Her friends sniggered loudly as their leader crossed her arms fully satisfied by what she must have thought was a witty name. However, as much as I wanted to ignore her the comment stung. I remembered there had been people around us at the party but had hoped they would keep their mouths shut. If Naruto found out people knew about us it would most likely be the end of our relationship. I knew through experience he was nowhere near ready committing to _me,_ neither was I but I would be lying if I said I was completely opposed of the idea.

"Piss off Tenten." Sakura sent her a nasty look and stood from her seat to tower over her. Their difference in height was only an inch or less but it still managed to give Sakura an upper hand and for that I was thankful. Unlike her I had not been blessed with height and thus stood shorter than Tenten. However, in my defense both Sakura and Tenten were unusually tall for being girls.

"Getting girls to defend you now too Sasu_gay_," she made a clucking sound with her tongue "how pitiful." She gave me dirty look and then met Sakura's angry glare. "Furthermore, I don't remember talking to you slut. You think just because you've in some mysterious way banged a football player that gives you the right to speak? Please, don't make me laugh. Both of you and your other little friend will always be losers." Narrowing her beady eyes she leaned closer to me and whispered threatening, "And you, you would do better stay away from Naruto. He's mine, you got that?" I watched in slow motion as Tenten reached for my forgotten cup and knocked it over. "Oops."

I held back my anger as I watched the liquid spill over the table and drip on the floor. I could tell Sakura stared at me; telling me to keep my calm and just ignore it so that is just what I did. I bit my tongue and forced myself to remain on my seated place but refused to let her win so easily. "That's gonna be a tough one considering his taste in…_people_." I let my words hang in the air to be interpreted by her imagination and watched in satisfaction as Tenten's face turned red from anger.

"Whatever fag, just stay away from him or you're going to regret it!" She threatened me of which I only smirked. We stared at each other for several long moments, the tension appearing like sparks between us before the group eventually turned and left. Sakura fell back in her chair and released a heavy sigh of relief. "Bitch."

"My sentiments." I snorted.

"So you've talked to Naruto yet?"

"About what?" I questioned.

"You know what you told me yesterday, about you messing up and thinking it was over between the two of you."

I felt my left eyebrow twitch as I had no memory of ever telling her anything. "I told you…" I absently whispered slightly panicking over what I would have told her. "Um it was nothing, just a small misunderstanding."

Sakura silently nodded although I could tell she had more to say. "You know it's gonna be all over school on Monday though? I mean if Tenten knows, everybody knows by now."

"And what exactly is that…?" I hated sounding stupid but as I could not recall much from the day before I only hoped no one else knew of the kiss between Kiba and me.

"About your crush on Naruto! C'mon Sasuke, that bitch just told you about it are you going senile on me now?" Sakura sounded serious but her warm smile made me sigh of relief.

"Hn." I grunted. "Let those idiots say what they want." As long as Naruto doesn't mind I added silently as an afterthought.

"I guess." Sakura sighed and got up. "What do you say about taking a walk?"

I frowned but complied nonetheless. Seeing as my coffee had been ruined there was no point in sticking around.

**Xx**

I shut the door to the car behind me and nodded my thanks for the drive back to my house. "I'll talk to you later!" Sakura's voice came out muffled from inside the vehicle before she sped down my driveway and away. I gave the sky a quick look noting just how dark it was. I had spent more time with Sakura than deliberated from the start.

I had absently let myself lose track of time and could only hope I had the time to take a shower before Naruto came over. Once I entered the house I realized Itachi was home, and judging by the extra pair of shoes his girlfriend was with him. I popped my head inside the kitchen where the lights came from and informed them of my return. Not to forget that if they were to enter my room under any circumstances they were more than dead. How anyone could be more than dead I was unsure of but that was a matter for the future.

I trudged upstairs, my phone ready in hand if Naruto were to call, and pushed the door open to my room. Even if I was sure I was perfectly odor free I did not want to take any chances seeing as tonight was important and so rid myself of my clothes and went to take a quick shower.

The shower was warm and relaxing. Remains of the tension from the morning's hangover slowly faded and my mind felt sharper than it had all day. However, as comfortable as my shower was it was cut short when the signal from my phone drowned out the sound of water. I hurried out of the shower in hopes it was Kiba and not Naruto telling me to go screw myself for cheating on him and released a tired sigh when the screen flashed the first name.

"Sasuke." I heard Kiba say, his voice unidentifiable.

"Kiba." I replied as enthusiastically as I could but immediately regretted how it made me seem happy from him calling. What if he thought the kiss had meant something? I decided to let Kiba make the first move.

"Um, you know about yesterday…" He began as I absently listened to what he had to say while getting ready for Naruto coming over. It felt weird listening to someone else talk while I was putting on lotion on my dehydrated skin but I convinced myself as long as no one saw me do it there was nothing to be embarrassed about. I continued by drying my hair and then dressed in a pair of boxer briefs and a shirt two sizes too big my mom had bought me on one of her travels in hopes I'd grow into it. Two years later and it was still too big.

I plopped down in my comfy chair by the bookshelf and traced the bones of my kneecaps. "So, I guess what I mean is that well I'm not… You know I'm just a bit… It's so sudden I just got out of a relationship I guess." Kiba eventually concluded after twenty minutes of nervous rambling.

"It's okay." I replied casually while doing my best to hide the happiness and relief I felt. "Yesterday was a mistake." I assured thinking Kiba would be relieved but the silence that followed confused me. "I mean we were both drunk. We didn't know what we were doing right?" I tried yet again and this time earned something between a grunt and a snort. What did he want? I frowned confused.

"But I like hanging out with you."

This was not the way I wanted things to end up like. I dropped my head in slight defeat and listened to the calm breaths of Kiba through the phone's speaker. I had to come up with something to say. Something to convince Kiba we were better off as friends.

"Yesterday was a mistake Kiba, don't make this any more awkward than it already is." I tried to explain in hopes he would respect my feelings. In truth honest I could not care less about his feelings for me but he held the upper hand and if I was careless he could reveal me! "I…already have someone else that I like."

I could imagine Kiba's surprised face by the tone of his voice. "Are you seeing them?"

"I…I'm not in position to tell." Even I could tell my answer was lame.

"That usually means yes." Kiba replied unusually bitter. "Who is it? Do I know them?"

I let the silence be my answer as I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. The phone call was dragging on longer than I had expected. A quick look at the clock next to my bed told me I had to hurry if I wanted to be ready before Naruto got here.

"I see. Well you know where I am if you change your mind."

I won't I rolled my eyes. I only have eyes for Naruto. "Thanks." I replied nonetheless. "But you understand I would like to keep this just between us right." I had to make sure he would not tell Naruto.

"Yeah." I drew a breath of relief and got ready to hang up.

"I gotta go but I'll see you in school on Monday." I said my good byes and hung up the phone. I dropped my head against my knees and groaned.

"Who are you sharing secrets with?" A voice made me look up in surprise.

"Naruto…" I stared at him wide eyed. "When did you get here?" I demanded hoping he hadn't heard much of the conversation.

"Take it easy." Naruto smiled one of his killer smiles. "I just got here so there's no need to worry. Or should_ I_ be worried?"

I snorted and was about to stand but then realized what I was wearing. "Would you mind waiting outside while I get dressed?" I tried to act casual but could feel my cheeks heat up. Why did I care about what I wore when Naruto also was a guy and had already seen me naked? I did not know, at all.

Naruto seemed to catch on my embarrassment and happily closed the remaining distance between us. "Why? Afraid I'd see you naked?" Naruto teased annoying me if only a little.

"It's not that." I defended my pride but realized the damage was already done. So ignoring the burning on my cheeks I stood and made my way over to the closet to put on real clothes.

"Hey I'm just teasing you Sasuke!" Naruto exposed his own insecurity and grabbed me by the arm. "Um, I mean. What I'm trying to say is…You look cute."

My face twitched. "Cute?" There was something very hurtful about those words and I could feel the last pieces of my male pride going out the opened window. "I'm a boy, I'm not cute." I said in my defense but Naruto's grin remained in place.

"I know you are." He shocked me by saying. "But to me you look cute. Girl or boy it's just a word."

Even though Naruto was the farthest from being intelligent his simplicity sometimes amazed me. Screw pride as long as it made Naruto want me, I could live with it. Not that I would tell him that of course. "Hn."

"After you left me at the party I thought I'd never get to meet with you like this again." Naruto suddenly turned nervous and I tilted my head in slight confusion of the sudden change in character. "You know you're special to me right? I like you a lot."

"Of course I do." I replied but could not stop the happiness from growing in my stomach.

"Good." Naruto grinned and closed the remaining distance between us. I happily accepted his advances by attacking his mouth hungrily and leading us to the very comfortable bed. I climbed on top of him and straddled his waist. "_You're different today Sasuke_." Naruto panted.

"No." I denied. "_I simply know what I want._"

_tbc_

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><p>In case I've missed any grammar or spelling errors I'd love it if you'd help me point them out so that I can correct them. Hopefully there aren't too many as I've gone through it plenty of times but being a dyslectic makes it harder for me to spot them all. Sorry for the inconvenience!<p>

Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far!


	11. Chapter 11

Two words: Date night! ;) Once again thank you guys for reviewing last chapter! I honestly can't say it enough. This chapter I dedicate to all my wonderful reviewers! (To anonymous: don't worry this is _NaruSasu_.)

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><p>Part Eleven<p>

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><p>What was this? The thirtieth time by now? Yeah, something like that. One would think at some point I'd actually be used to it by now but sadly, the embarrassment was just as painful every single time. I just wish people would stop butting in on my business. Really, my life should not be this interesting.<p>

On more than one occasion people had actually walked up to _me, _congratulated and wished me good luck in pursuing Naruto. As Sakura happily informed me - which meant as soon as I set foot on school ground - rumor had it that I was love sick with Naruto and had freaked out when I saw him with someone else at the party. Like that would ever happen! It was thanks to their prying eyes and gossip that Naruto was so reluctant about our relationship going public.

My talk with Anko also ended up a mess, like always. The woman pressured me into annoying situations and twisted all my words into something completely different than I originally meant. There were times I considered stabbing her with a pencil but held back only because I knew she would misinterpret it like everything else I said or did.

Kiba was away from school for some strange reason. A part of me wondered if it was because of me but the guilt was overshadowed by relief. I still had no clue of how I should act in front of him knowing what we did. A few days apart were the best really. Never mind it also made it easier to look Naruto in the eye whenever we met up. At least then I could pretend everything was okay.

Apropos of the blond, Naruto's reaction to the rumor was also pretty annoying. After his confession the other night I thought he had changed if only a little but that proved to be naïve of me. He would whisper to me whenever he walked passed but there was no real confrontation like that of a true friend. If this was the farthest our relationship would go I began doubting our chances of lasting more than only a few months.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Hinata said from her place next to me. We were currently waiting for class to begin as the teacher was late. I rolled my eyes and shrugged.

"It's nothing really." I knew she only meant well but admitting my troubles in such a public place where someone could easily be eavesdropping made me reluctant to answer.

"I see." Hinata replied just as gently as before but then surprised me by continuing, "Just know I'm here if you want to talk about it."

I nodded and pretended to consider her offer even if I already knew I would never take her up on it and sighed gratefully when the teacher entered the classroom. Hinata sent me a friendly shrug as if she knew my thoughts and then turned all her focus at the front leaving me to fall back in my own thoughts.

I dared an absentminded glance at Naruto and watched him whisper something to his friend of which said guy began chuckling. I grit my teeth in jealousy of their friendship. The friend was someone from the football team judging by the jacket he wore and that annoyed me. Naruto could be chummy with anyone popular but when it came to me: he was reduced to secrecy. Does reputation really matter that much? If so, Naruto was much more superficial than he made himself out to be.

As if he could sense my ogling stare, Naruto surprised me by turning his head, a small grin on his lips. My phone buzzed and Naruto turned back to face our teacher as I checked my phone's status. _1 New Message._

I opened the text and read the short note.

_2nite I wanna do smth special 4 U. Pick U up 7pmish?_

Was it desperate to answer right away? Probably. Did I care? Not so much, but letting him have the upper hand all the time was also bad. I waited a minute or two before I typed my response and then sent it. As soon as Naruto read it he sent me one of his sexy grins and mouthed something about tonight. I felt my cheeks heat up and frowned down on my books, embarrassed by my own embarrassment.

Damning the world to hell the thought hit me and I realized my new situation: Naruto had just asked me out on a date! With my recent rumor in mind, did the date mean something more than just a normal date? My heart skipped a beat at the thought of tonight being special and suddenly I felt bad about my previous thoughts. Naruto wasn't shallow, not at all. He was simply…unsure of himself. In a way it was kind of cute, wasn't it?

**Xx**

"Sasuke is this all you own? There's nothing in here but t-shirts and plain jeans? You can't wear this unless you want him to break up with you! " Sakura commented annoyed as she stood with her head inside my wardrobe throwing whatever piece of clothes I own over her shoulder.

"I'm a guy what am I supposed to own?" I replied equally frustrated. It's not that I didn't appreciate her help – no wait I didn't – but she was so pushy! I somewhat regretted ever telling her about Naruto's and my date as her complaints were only making me more nervous about tonight. What if it was true?

"Guys-" Hinata spoke up and I gave her an –almost – desperate look to continue. "What about this?" She said and held a stripy t-shirt in one hand and a cardigan which I knew belonged to my brother – how did it get inside my room – up for show. My gaze fell on Sakura to see if she would approve and as she slowly began to nod I looked back on the garments and realized they looked pretty good together. Itachi would not mind me borrowing a simple cardigan, right? Oh well, what was the worst he could do.

I removed the shirt I was wearing and accepted the attires from Hinata. Dressing quickly I watched myself in the full view mirror and contemplated the clothes looked quite well on me. The cardigan hung loosely over the t-shirt and made me look… cute? My eye twitched at the new realization. No way would I wear this! I started unbuttoning the buttons of the shirt to remove the horrid outfit but Sakura's screaming voice stopped me.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sakura threatened as she must have noticed my sudden dislike of the clothes. I snorted in response. As if I cared enough to listen to her. On my left I noticed Hinata making her way over to me a look of persuasion on her face. I turned away in annoyance and crossed my arms childishly over my chest. Usually she would be the one agreeing with me.

"I can't wear this." I mumbled. "I look…weird."

"But it really suits you Sasuke." Hinata said, Sakura agreeing by nodding her head enthusiastically. "What she said."

Once again my eye twitched. "But I still don't like-" But before I had the time to finish my sentence Itachi from down stairs cut me off by calling my name to inform me of Naruto's arrival. I gulped as my heart started beating faster and I sent my two best friends a friendly glare. "_You _stay _here_." I pressed and nervously made my way to the front door.

I climbed down the stair and was met by a grinning Itachi. "Your date is here little brother…" he said mockingly but I ignored him and continued to where Naruto was.

"Sasuke." I heard Naruto say and watched his lips twisted into a smile as soon as we locked eyes. Feeling my lips mimic his I greeted him shyly. "Hi." Naruto proceeded by pulling me into a hug and I happily responded by placing my arms around his neck. I basked in the scent of Naruto's cologne and almost shivered from arousal. "You look great." He said surprising me.

I felt the rising heat on my cheeks and snorted embarrassed. However, I had to admit hearing him compliment my clothes made them less horrible. "So do you." I mumbled back.

He laughed softly causing me to frown. Why did he find my embarrassment amusing?

"You're very cute Sasuke."

I wanted to be mad at him but his confidence and gentle eyes made it difficult. "Shut up." I commented noncommittally. Had it been anyone else but Naruto I would have punched him by now.

"You don't like it when I compliment you?" He seemed confused.

"Hn." I hedged. Not even I knew the right answer to that question. Sure I liked getting them because they confirmed Naruto's feelings for me but at the same time it was embarrassing. I wasn't some girl. "Should we get going?" I asked, deciding the best way was to avoid the subject.

He seemed indecisive but eventually let me go of me completely and opened the door. "Of course." The smile returned to his lips and he urged me through the door.

I relaxed as I followed him to his car and jumped inside. "Where are we going?" A part of me hoped for somewhere private where we could mostly be by ourselves but at the same time I also wanted to go somewhere public. I needed to know if this date meant what I wanted it to do. I had to know if Naruto accepted me.

"Patience." Naruto secretly smiled and shifted into first gear. "I don't want to spoil the surprise." The engine roared and we were off the driveway in a second.

We had been driving for almost half an hour when I started getting impatient. We had left Konoha long since and I grudgingly realized my earlier hopes of a public date was nothing but a stupid dream. This was not a date to confirm and out our relationship, it was merely a date to induce me with false hope. Naruto must have noticed my distress because only a second later he gave me a strange look.

"Something wrong Sasuke?"

"No." I answered reluctantly and rolled my eyes. Of course there was something wrong! He was taking me on a date but before that he had to take us somewhere far away so that there was no chance of us being seen together by anyone we knew.

"You don't have to lie, I can tell something is wrong." He pressed, apparently much more attentive than I gave him credit for. He looked at me through piercing blue eyes for a long moment before returning his focus on the road ahead.

This time I didn't embellish my answer. "I'm only saying you must have gone through a lot of trouble planning this date." I tried to hide the bite in my voice but it was quite apparent as I spoke.

"What makes you say that?" His eyebrows creased together and there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"We're going a bit far for a date aren't we?" I paused. "You know I didn't force you to ask me out or anything."

"Are you angry?" Naruto turned more serious and his lips dropped into a thin line. "Because if you think I've done something wrong I want you to tell me."

"I thought I just did." I mumbled and looked out the window at the passing trees. My heart pounded inside my chest as I was afraid Naruto would get angry. I didn't want him to call off our date but at the same time I couldn't stand the two faced attitude.

A long silence followed. It could have been only a few minutes but to me it felt like hours. Finally my nerves started to calm down but Naruto remained silent, unmoving in the driver's seat. Never had the songs of the radio been as deafening as of that moment. I tried to think of ways to lighten up the mood but came up empty handed, my tries failing before I even had the time to open the mouth.

I noticed we were slowing down and turned off the highway, the next minute a softly lit cabin came into view and we pulled to a stop in front of it. "We're here." Naruto commented and turned off the engine, revealing the awkward silence that lingered between us.

"W-where are we?" I accidentally stuttered, my nerves getting the better of me yet again.

"We are just on the outskirts of Konoha." His smile returned if only a little as his eyes turned gentle. He put a hand on my leg and surprised me by kissing me passionately, but before anything turned serious he pulled back. My head spun and I had to clutch my leg not to fall over.

"Come on." He urged and stepped out of the car. I tumbled out on the other side and followed him as he led me up to the front door of the large cabin. I watched him unlock the door, slightly surprised that he had the keys to a place so magnificent like this.

"Is this your place?" I somewhat gawped and entered the house to find it even more impressing on the inside. Everything about the place: the way it was furnished to the rich wallpaper - even lightening - melted together and created a cozy atmosphere.

"It's not as much mine as it is my parents." Naruto cracked a smile. "But I asked nicely and promised I wouldn't host any crazy parties so dad lent me the key."

"That must've taken a lot of convincing." I chuckled. Knowing Naruto's -colorful- reputation I could only guess his father's face as he passed on the keys of the cabin.

"Hey." Naruto said in mock offense and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, come here." He took my hand in his and led me to the dining area. "I wanted to do something special." He started playing nervously with my fingers and I watched a soft blush cover his cheeks.

The dining room was lit by multiple candles and the table set for two. Everything was decorated in warm colors and looked as if hours had been spent to plan every single detail. I found it strange that someone like Naruto had came up with it and wondered if someone might have helped him. It all seemed way too romantic to be planned by a mere teenager like Naruto.

"Do you like it?" His voice shook as he asked.

I nodded, feeling speechless. Sure it was a bit of overkill, especially with all the candles, but I appreciated the effort he had put into it. However, as if he had read my mind Naruto quickly continued, "I know the candles are a bit much but mom helped me set it up and she was all like; "_Now now Naruto stop being so silly if you want to keep this one you shouldn't withhold on the romance."_ She's pretty persuasive my mom. " Naruto sighed.

I smiled amused. "Still, I bet it must be fun having a mom. I hardly see my parents."

"What's the deal with that by the way? So far I've only met your brother."

"And I've met none of yours. Hell, I don't even know if you have any siblings."

"Fair enough." Naruto replied. "But no, I'm an only child."

I shrugged. "Father travels a lot and mom goes with him. My brother and I usually see them around holiday and birthdays but that's about it."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" I quirked my brow confused. "You're not my parents."

"I guess." He snorted.

We fell into silence until Naruto clumsily told me to sit. I did as instructed and watched him leave for what I assumed was the kitchen. When he came back a moment later he held two steaming plates of food in each hand. "This is one of my favorite foods: scalloped potatoes, fillet of beef garnished with asparagus on the top." He said but quickly added, "Well, next to ramen of course."

I stared at the plate and admitted it looked delicious. The scalloped potatoes looked just as creamy as I liked it and next to tomatoes asparagus was one of my favorite vegetables. "Did you make this?" It was hard to picture Naruto cooking. He didn't seem very sophisticated.

"Not really." He blushed. "I had help in the kitchen so if you hear anything it's just the maid."

"Maid?" I repeated incredulously. I knew Naruto was somewhat wealthy but enough to have a maid? Exactly what did his parents do for a living?

"Uh yeah." He scratched the back of his head. It was one of his nervous habits. "We have a few places and maintaining them all at the same time takes too much time."

"A few? Exactly how many 'places' do you have?"

"Only a few." He shrugged.

"And by that you mean?" I pressed genuinely interested.

"Two or three… Not counting the two villas abroad."

My eye twitched. Damn.

The rest of our meal passed in similar topics as we only got to know each other better. I realized until that point in our relationship there was little we knew about each other. Naruto came from a large advertisement company which had assets all over the world and even if he was playing football in school his real goal in life was to take over the family business someday. He had a secret like to comics and even used some of his spare time drawing mock comics. It was actually quite nice, just talking.

Our dinner eventually came to an end and we left the dining room to go watch a movie. I sat down on the couch end not quite sure what Naruto was expecting of me. Usually whenever we spent time together it meant we had sex and then we would separate. However, this time –so far – we had only talked… It almost felt like a real relationship.

Once Naruto started the dvd he joined me on the sofa and draped one of his arms over my shoulders. The trailers started playing and I felt my nerves taking the better of me. I nervously shifted in my seat, unsure if I was supposed to start anything or if he actually meant for us to watch the movie.

Naruto must have noticed my anxiety because he turned to me, a frown on his otherwise perfect brow. "What now?" He inquired.

I shrugged, hesitant to answer. "What is it about me… what do you expect?"

"What do you mean 'expect'?"

"This probably seems odd if not random but we don't do this," I said and pointed between the two of us. "We've been in this relationship for almost four months now and this is the first time we've ever had a real conversation, much less watched a movie together." The conversation felt too grown up to have at that point in life but my feelings for Naruto was so strong I knew I had to say something.

Naruto appeared thoughtful and shifted away from me. Hadn't his arm remained around my shoulders I would've worried I had said too much. "I know." He finally said and adopted a dejected look. It reminded me of a kid whom had lost its favorite toy.

"So?"

"Up until this point I haven't really…" He began to say but seemed ashamed and fell quiet. I frowned and in a try to urge him on, turned to face him better. The arm around my shoulder fell down and pressed against my leg. "This is the first time…I've ever felt like this." He admitted. My heart started racing. The way he nervously shifted his gaze, as if he couldn't settle anywhere, was kind of cute.

"Felt like what?"

"; Like I become a better person when I'm with you. It's as if suddenly you have become this important _thing_ in my life and I don't know how to be close to you. At first I was just having fun but the more time we spent together I realized I actually _like_ _you_. I've had girlfriends and occasional one night stands before you but they have never made me feel like this. To be honest it kinda freaks me out."

"That's why?" I stated more than asked, slightly bewildered. To think I had spent hours, days asking myself why Naruto wouldn't acknowledge me as his boyfriend and he had just been scared.

"Why, what?" He looked confused as his eyebrows kept coming together.

I held back the huge grin I felt breaking out and put my hands over Naruto's knees. I bit my lip and leaned forward, only hesitating by his lips. "That's enough…for now." And then I pressed my lips against his.

Naruto quickly responded to my advances and whatever objections he had died down as we fell back against the couch. "You know we were supposed to watch the movie." Naruto slightly panted once we separated.

"I know…" I replied. "But all this talking have made me horny."

Naruto chuckled and brought our lips back together.

_tbc_

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><p>*If you wonder why Naruto uses chat speak in his texts it's because I see him as a lazy typer. Unfortunately my 'skillz' in chat speak has lessened these last few years and so my sincerest apologies if I'm not using it correctly.<p>

On another side note, you may also wonder why and how Naruto can legally drive a car when he's only in the first grade of HS. The reason is simple: I forgot Americans start HS when they're 14-15yrs old. Where I'm from we don't start until most of us are 15-16. With this in mind I have decided - since this also is fiction - Naruto, Sasuke and the others started grade one as 15 to 16yr olds. Sounds good? yeah.

Thanks for taking the time reading all this, I look forward to reading your opinion and thoughts! xoxo :)


	12. Chapter 12

A bit late, but I finally finished it. Please enjoy

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><p>Part Twelve<p>

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><p>It was at that moment I finally knew what the old romantic classics were all about. I was literally walking on sunshine: walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale. My head was so far up in the clouds I had trouble acknowledging anything that wasn't Naruto.<p>

We had gotten back early in the morning, him dropping me off at home so I could have a change of clothes. Luckily Itachi was already out of the house so no stupid interrogation this time. It wasn't so much he was overprotective as he loved teasing me about it. If he would be more interested in his own love life rather than mine I bet his girlfriend would be less bitchy every time she came over to our house.

I released a long sigh as I lay sprawled over the bed my head a spiraling mess. The previous day had left me – dare say – giddy and now I was unsure of how to act next time I saw Naruto. With the recent rumor still fresh I knew I had to keep my distance in school. We had to keep any suspicions on the low but to say it would be hard was an understatement. Perhaps if I focused hard enough on getting through the day's classes it would be easier? After all it was only a few hour. We had already decided to meet up straight after school.

Closing my eyes I remembered waking up next to Naruto only an hour earlier: his light breath against my neck, the warmth from being tangled up together. Never had I imagined something so insignificant could be so fulfilling. Just thinking about spending the rest of my life waking up next to Naruto made me shiver from anticipation. Had I won the lotto without even knowing I was participating?

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I hastily fished it from my pocket thinking it was Naruto. Did he miss me already? I blushed at the thought. Unlocking the phone I opened the new text message but as I read it I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. _We need to talk today in school _it read.

It was Kiba. Kiba was coming back to school. I felt my eyes widen in slight panic. For only a second I had let myself forget. What if he slipped up to Naruto? After all they were best friends. But then again, he had promised me not to tell anyone: could I trust him enough not to tell?

I bit my lip hard until I felt the taste of iron. "Fuck."

Perhaps I was wrong about that lottery ticket.

**Xx**

I spent the remainder of the morning hiding in bathrooms or in class, trying my best to escape the inevitable but lunch was coming up and by then I knew my friends would force me out of my hiding. I considered feigning a sickness but even I knew how ridicules that was. The bell rang much like dooms day's bell and I dragged my feet behind out of class.

Outside stood Sakura with her boyfriend much like a fateful dog, waving her hand enthusiastically at Hinata and me. How she could be so full of spirit at a time like this was beyond me, couldn't she see my suffering? Of course not. She was too busy sucking tongue with her stupid boyfriend. Seriously, his smile was creepy. It was anything but natural. Perhaps he did meds? That would explain a lot.

"Earth to Sasuke. Where have you been all this morning? We've been looking all over for you but you were nowhere to be found. Don't tell me something happened yesterday between you and Naruto?"

My eyes widened and I sent Sakura a look of shock as I tried to convey wordlessly that we weren't alone. No one was supposed to know about me and Naruto. What if Lee told anyone? He was a jock after all.

"Oh please Sasuke," She said apparently catching on. "Lee won't say anything, right?"

Lee's original smile widened if even possible. "A secret love between two boys, hidden away to the public eye: one an outcast the other a popular jock, it's just like Romeo and Juliet all over again. I admire you if anything Sasuke!"

Was that a tear in his eye? "Right."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What I think he meant to say was he won't tell anyone right Lee."

"Of course!"

I made a short noise to show my annoyance but let the small group lead me away to have lunch together. For once we sat in the school canteen, not that I appreciated it. The many looks I got were very unnerving. What were they staring at? Sure nowadays I was the school goof but what right did that give them-

"Eh." Naruto suddenly stood right in front of me and I realized just what the other students were looking at, they weren't ogling just me, it was us together. "Morning Sasuke."

My right eye twitched and I stared into azure eyes. I melted at the spot. Had we been alone at that moment I would have said 'just take me' but we were in public and to say I was stunned, well that wasn't very surprising was it.

Something akin to a groan slipped through my lips and I blushed over my own slip-up. I seemed to do that a lot lately.

"Have you seen Kiba yet?" were the first words which left my mouth. The question startled him it was obvious by the way his brow creased together.

"Not yet no," Naruto wearily responded. "Why?"

"No particular reason." I played it off and whatever objection Naruto had I silenced him by continuing, "Why are you here?"

"Why I'm here? Jesus Sasuke I thought after this morning you'd be more welcoming."

I chocked on my breath when suddenly I became very aware of the intent looks coming from my friends and the people seated by the tables nearby. Had Naruto hit his head? Or was I in some strange dream? Last thing I knew we were supposed to keep our relationship a secret not parade it in the school canteen. "T-this morning?" I stuttered rather stupidly as I tried to figure out whether I was imagining it all or if the world had simply gone insane.

"You know," he mumbled "over at the cabin."

"But I-"

"Anyway, I just wanted to drop bye and say hi before our date after school. Oh right, and do this-" Then he proceeded by leaning towards me and kissing me right on the lips. It was hard to decide whether to laugh or cry at that moment but just then he whispered so that only I could hear, "I know how much you wanted this."

It slightly bugged me that he said I wanted it, because I thought we both wanted it but before I could voice my opinion he was already busy talking on the phone and walking away. How he could be so close one moment and then the other so far away was beyond me.

"Woowie! You go Sasuke." Sakura cheered me on, causing me to stir from my thoughts.

"Hn." I snorted and pretended the food on my plate was much more interesting than what had just occurred. Unfortunately for me not all shared my decision.

"SASUKE!"

I would recognize that voice anywhere, I bet even if I were deaf it would still make my skin crawl. Waiting a few seconds sure enough Temari stood next to me her finger jabbed in my shoulder. "You did this. Somehow I know you did this! How? You must have threatened him, you did didn't' you?" She started wailing about Naruto acting strange and me doing voodoo to get him. I don't know all she said because I just tuned her out.

Eventually she must have noticed my lack of listening as I felt another jab in my shoulder from her rock hard hand. I winced. It actually hurt a lot but I ignored the pain. Like hell I would give in to her stupidity. "You Uchiha Sasuke are a loser!" She said and the next thing I know I'm wet and have spaghetti sauce dripping from my hair. Sakura yells something and Hinata just worries like always.

"You did not just do that!" I growled and jumped from my seat, knocking us both over. We tumbled around on the floor and I managed to land one hit before someone separated us. "You're crazy!" Temari cried out and like the scheming bitch she is turned to the teacher and began lying about how I jumped her without reason. Fortunately it was Asuma-sensei one of my favorite teachers so he just ignored her while dragging her by the arm in the direction of the nurse's office.

Had I still been a child, I would have stuck my tongue out pleased by my rare case of luck but I was no kid anymore and thus had to settle with a simple taunting look. Nonetheless I could tell Temari's anger only grew when her pig-like eyes narrowed into slits.

"Way to go Sasuke! I've always wanted to do that but being the school counselor school rules doesn't really allow it. She walks around all mightily looking down on the rest of us all the time. I really wish I could just- ."

Come on! Was the world against me today? Or was I just fun to torture. Why did the freaks seem to throw themselves at me? I don't really know when I had closed my eyes but I opened them reluctantly and was faced with Anko. I wanted to tell her off but as always I only remained silent.

"-didn't come by yesterday. Why not come with me now. After all we can't let people know you're my favorite student now can we?" To my mortification she actually winked at me. I wanted to throw up. However, as unwilling as I was to follow her I knew that if I didn't take up on her offer I'd either get lynched by the evil mob in the canteen or get lynched _and_ a phone call to my mom. I chose the lesser of two evils and simply to follow her, but not before I sent Sakura and Hinata a defeated look, ignoring Lee's strange expression next to them.

For the rest of the lunch hour I was stuck in Anko's office, listening to her nag about her very tedious life and fending off stupid annoying questions. By the time I got out I felt way too exhausted to go to class and ended up skipping English. Instead I went to the library to do some light reading and collect my thoughts.

As I finally sat by one of the tables I threw a quick look on my phone and noticed the one new message notification. Against better judgment I opened it and ended up staring at it as if it were a foreign language. My heart stopped for just a second and my head started spinning.

_So I guess I know why you wanted to keep our kiss a secret. Why didn't you just tell me you were dating my best friend?_

My fingers automatically typed a quick answer demanding to know how he knew and what he had told Naruto. My head fell against the books before me and a strange pain settled in my stomach. Fuck Kiba if he had told Naruto. I imagined strangling him and felt a little better but then I was reminded of Naruto during lunch and I couldn't help but wonder if that was the last time he'd ever look upon me like that again.

This was clearly not my day.

Later that day I stood in the school parking lot by myself waiting for Naruto just like we had agreed on earlier that day. Sakura and Hinata offered to stay behind and wait with me but I declined. I didn't want them to witness my – very possible – humiliation. Naruto hadn't answered to any of my text messages yet nor had Kiba. I wasn't even sure if he would show up but I was hoping - since his car was still parked in its place – that he would anyways. If he knew about Kiba's and my kiss I had to at least explain it to him. I just hoped he would listen.

I looked awkwardly at the people walking by. Many of them were giving me strange looks as they passed but could I blame them? Not really. My ludicrous life was once again on display for the public eye. I bet they all wondered how anyone could have so much bad luck. I did too.

I nervously shifted my feet and kept my eyes on my feet. I was almost at a point of giving up when I noticed a pair of familiar sneakers next to mine. I looked up hopeful and half expectant to see those kind cerulean eyes from lunch but instead I was met by cold icy blue.

I shivered and swallowed the growing lump in my throat. He knew.

"Naruto I can explain." I offered but I could already tell he was anything but interested in listening.

"Yeah I'm sure you can." Naruto sneered. "You thought you could just keep this from me huh? C'mon Sasuke he's my best friend! After all you've said to me and what I did for you today, yesterday! Is this how you thank me?"

"Thank you?" I repeated my own aggravation over my own actions and Naruto's stupidity had me crying out in anger. "So you think our relationship is something I should be thankful for? Wow, thank _you_ Naruto for allowing me to be in your presence! I feel _so_ special. Fucking prick!"

"You know what Sasuke I thought you were special but now I see you're just like any other backstabbing bitch! You and me we are done, you hear me? I don't ever want to see your ugly face again." Naruto gave me a hard shove in the chest which knocked me back but not enough to fall and proceeded by stomping away.

Furious, I emitted an exasperated growl and adjusted the strap of my bag over my shoulder before speeding away through the lot. It was over 2 miles home but at that moment I was too upset to care. The whole way home I walked with blurred eyes while doing my best to choke back the sobs from escaping. Fuck my life. Fuck Naruto. _Fuck everything_.

_tbc_

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><p>Leave a comment on your way out? I would love to read your thoughts. x<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Thank y'all for commenting. You inspire me so much!

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><p>Part Thirteen<p>

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><p><em><strong>Do you ever…<strong>_

_Just wish you could change everything?  
>- I know I do.<em>

Today's blog post would be short but for a sum up it was pretty close to how I felt. Both Hinata and Sakura had been calling nonstop ever since I arrived at home. I bet the news must have reached them by now that Naruto's and mine relationship was already over in less than 24 hours.

I felt pathetic.

The following days I stayed home. For once, Itachi actually took pity on me and allowed me to escape the embarrassment, even going so far as offering to go visit Naruto and kick his ass for hurting me but I quickly made him promise not to. Even if I think Naruto deserves some of the blame too I knew most of it was my fault. Whether I kissed Kiba or not, I should have told him about it. Perhaps by hiding it from him he assumed it meant something more than what it really was: a drunken mistake.

The worst part was he still wouldn't let me explain. He ignored my text messages and disconnected my phone calls. What else was there to do? The only response I received was from Kiba. However, I was still unsure of how I felt about him so I ignored most of it. He still sent messages saying we have to talk and how he's sorry for how thing turned out.

At first I had been mad at him for telling but it quickly died once I got some perspective over things. Even if he had said it, how could he have known me and Naruto were dating. We had hid it for months and if I understand it correctly he actually like _likes_ me and who wouldn't tell their best friend about it? I told Sakura and Hinata when Naruto and I got together. Mostly because Sakura had hurt my pride but by telling me Naruto was out of my reach, but also because she was such a pusher and could always tell when I'm trying to hide something and would have gotten more annoying had she found out by herself.

There was a knocking on my door and I called out for the person to enter. Itachi's head peeked through the small opening. "Hey there's someone here who wants to see you."

"Who is it?" I said thinking it must be Sakura having grown tired of my moping but was surprised when he said it was some guy named Kiba. Slightly reluctant to letting him in – I couldn't very well tell him to leave when Itachi already let him in – I nodded my consent and shortly thereafter Kiba entered my room. I sat up from having lied in bed all day and tried to look as respectable as possible. It most likely failed though seeing as how my hair was disheveled and I wore my pajamas.

"So I know you probably don't want me here but I've tried calling you and you know." Kiba began his eyes moving about my room. I could tell he felt just as awkward coming here as I was him being here. "I get why you don't want to answer but I just want to say I'm sorry and seeing how you're not coming to school I didn't know what else to do so I sorta ended up coming here. Sorry." Now he was apologizing again. A part of me wanted to say I was over it but my lips remained sealed.

After realizing I wasn't going to answer the air grew uncomfortable around us and Kiba started hesitating before eventually sitting down in my bed keeping a short distance between us.

"Naruto is a jerk." He said abruptly causing me to come out of my daze.

"Why do you say that?" As much as I found it annoying that he would say something bad about Naruto when I was the one at fault, a part of me agreed.

"I know he likes you." Kiba frowned. Whether it was from jealousy or sympathy was hard to tell. "He's way too stubborn. I know that if it was me… well, I'd forgive anything if that meant-" His words died out and our eyes met awkwardly, the look in his eyes picking up from where he left off. I found it strangely appealing. That raw emotion: the adoration he revealed. It was something I had only hoped for Naruto to show.

Was that my heart racing?

"But it's our fault from the start." I suddenly felt the need to defend Naruto. Why was my heart beating so hard? Did I have feelings for Kiba? No, no way! "If I hadn't done what I did this never would have happened."

"You don't think Naruto's in the wrong?" Kiba somehow seemed offended. I looked at him slightly confused. "I mean sure we were the ones kissing but you don't think he owns it to you to come clean about your relationship. If he wants you all to himself perhaps he should have made it clearer than sneaking around everybody's backs? "

He made a valid point. I couldn't deny him that. "But," I began however Kiba silenced me.

"If anything, should he want you as much as I want you, wouldn't he put up more of a fight? Please," he said and shifted closer, using my shocked silence to his advantage and covered my hand with his. "Why don't you give me a try. I know now… what I want…" I shivered unwittingly, not sure of what to do. My heart beat like drums to a point I was almost afraid Kiba would hear it now when he sat so close.

But whatever worries I had didn't matter because without warning, just like before, it happened again. Kiba's roguish expression moved in almost in slow-motion as he closed the remaining distance between us, his lips ending up touching mine in a gentle chaste kiss. Meanwhile I sat too baffled I never had the time to respond.

My eyes grew owlish and I lost my ability to speak. The only sound in the room was the heavy beating of my heart and Kiba's shallow breathing. How had it come to this? Only a few days ago he agreed our kiss meant nothing! He wasn't even gay that I knew of! Why did all this decide to happen now? I've gone my whole life without any sort of love interest and now I had two people messing with my mind and heart. Did I like Kiba? Yes, but only as a friend. Then again why was my heart beating so erratically if so? It didn't make any sense.

"Would you say something?" Kiba must have lost his patience as he broke the silence. My eyes moved about the room in slight hysteria. What did he want me to say when I didn't know it myself?

The window caught my interest. Suddenly I found it hard to breathe and I realized I needed air. I moved my hand from under Kiba's and stood up. "Um, I- I" I stammered as I slowly backed away from the bed and Kiba in need of space. I didn't even finish my sentence before bolting out of the room. I ran passed Itachi in the living room mumbling my leave and threw on my shoes, not caring I still only wore my pajamas. The next minute I was in the woods not far from our house, ignoring the twigs whipping at my face as I raced through trees and bushes. I must have run for quite a while before eventually slowing down to rest against a fallen tree trunk. My breath came out jagged and my lungs burned from loss of oxygen. My stamina was well known for being short lived.

The thought I had left Kiba alone in my room didn't even occur to me as the swirling mess of emotions kept me plenty of busy trying to sort them out. I almost felt lightheaded from just trying to recall the horrible mess that was my life. "What should I do?" I groaned to no one in particular in desperate need for some answers. A part of me wanted to call up Sakura and just start wailing but the other part of me would not let me. My pride and indoctrinated self-control held me from admitting out loud the pathetic defeat I felt. People say things happen for a reason, well, they should just shut up.

I must have spent hours just walking aimlessly through the woods until I eventually returned home, tired and hungry. I was still confused as of what to do about Kiba's confession but knew I had to sort things out between us. Things would only get more awkward if I were to leave it as it was now and that was something I rather lived without. I already had enough troubles to keep me busy thank you.

Having decided that much I let sleep take me away too tired from the days emotional stress. What wouldn't I give for just a single moment of peace.

tbc

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><p>Noooo how did this happen? I never meant for Kiba to fall in love with Sasuke! This must be some evil scheme made by Cupid.<p>

**Next chapter!** A friendship turn into something else? Someone's jealous?

Will things ever work out for the poor Uchiha?

Read and find out as we finally reach the last chapter of _awkward._


	14. The Grande Finale

It's the final part ohmy!

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><p>Part Fourteen<p>

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><p>How did I get here? I honestly cannot tell you even if you want me to. It's lunch hour, we are in school and somehow my hand lay twined with another on the table. But it's not Naruto. It's Kiba. Why would my hand be intertwined with Kiba's? That, believe it or not, I actually can answer though it's fuzzy. Somehow in the blurred mess of Kiba's confession and my confused state, not knowing what feelings to trust or not, I ended up accepting Kiba's approach in fear of otherwise hurting his feelings.<p>

I know what I feel for Kiba is not love, I don't feel for him as I still do Naruto. But his devotion to me ever since his confession makes something stir within me and I can't help feel flattered, if not also slightly enticed. A part of me wondered whether I was just letting myself be deceived by the sudden attention. Even if I had my brother I have always felt overshadowed by him when it comes to our parents' acknowledgment. But was that just an excuse to use to make myself feel better?

Was I being selfish for leading him on? Did Kiba think we shared something special? That I somehow responded to his one-sided feelings? I notice how his thumb starts to trace patterns on my skin. I look up to see what he wants but notices he's busy talking to Sakura. I stare between him and where our hands lay laced together and force down a shiver of something I cannot make out. Was it anger or simply self-disgust?

It's remarkable how Kiba seems to blend in with my friends. Just an hour into their first interaction, when Kiba happily proclaimed we were very good _friends_, he had Hinata chatting nonstop and Sakura doing the same. To a stranger that might not seem very strange but to me it was. Hinata was and always had been very shy around strangers, not even among friends she hardly spoke at all. But Kiba held a thirty minute long discussion about animal rights, one of the few things Hinata felt very passionate about. I cannot remember how many times I have had to read or hear her talk about the unfairness of it all. I don't really care but I always feign interest and I admire her for her strong opinion.

"Is there something wrong?" Kiba's concerned voice break through my deep thoughts. His finger has stopped stroking my skin and instead I feel a soft squeeze which I guess was meant to be relieving but it only makes it awkward. To me anyways.

From across of us Sakura is beaming at us. She thinks we are suited for each other she told me so herself. But next to her Hinata is giving me an observing look. I try to ask her wordlessly what was wrong, but she diverts her eyes. I fear she might have noticed my inner conflict. Did she think I was egocentric? I return my gaze on Kiba. He is still looking at me expectantly.

My mouth becomes dry as I plan what to say but to my luck or not I get silenced by a big guy coming up to our table. I recognize him from our football team but that's about all I know of him. His curly blond hair falls into his eyes and he has to use his hand to wipe it to the side. He seemed conflicted and licked his lips but if anyone was wondering about his intentions they quickly got their answer. "Naruto tells you don't have to bother showing up at practice today." His jaw appeared stiff as he spoke and somehow his words came out ambiguous. I found myself wondering if someone had set him up for it. But it was hard to think Naruto would do it.

Surely Naruto wasn't so petty he would actually threaten his best friend.

The guy must have said something more while I had zoomed out because I can feel Kiba stiffen beside me. I give him a quick glance, he seems shocked and I return to the guy hovering above me. Something stirs within me and I grow angry. Really this sitting position wasn't helping me a single bit. Immediately I stood up to create a more authorizing air about me. "If someone has something to say let them tell him themselves." I didn't mention Naruto's name because frankly I wouldn't accept the thought he would say something so silly, even if he was angry at the both of us.

The guy falls silent and I can tell what I had said surprised him. But only for a minute. He blows up, his face taking on a much grimmer look and his eyes narrowing. "Shut up you slut."

I'm momentarily too baffled to reply. I had been called a lot but never a slut. Kiba flies from his seat and hauls himself over the guy. I only stare as the two tumbles about on the floor. Sakura tells me to do something and Hinata calls for a teacher but I remain silent. Eventually Sakura gives up on me and instead tries to pull the other guy off of Kiba, but it takes a while and two teachers' help until the two are separated. Kiba yells something and the other guy answers. I just miss it but realize it was something about me. I snort and send the football guy a dirty look. He responds with one of his own.

"_Hey guys, take it easy."_ They force the grumbling guy out of the cafeteria and drag an unhappy Kiba along. He says I should follow but I don't. I remain still in my place by the table. I gaze around on the onlookers and lock eyes with intense blue. Naruto is watching. Naruto is glaring at me. I frown. Could what the other guy said be true? Was Naruto blaming Kiba for what happened between us? To think the thought had never occurred to me before. To be honest I hadn't even asked Kiba about it. I had only assumed Naruto had forgiven him but not me.

Now I felt even guiltier. Not only had I destroyed their friendship; I had also managed to hurt one of them and the other I was leading on just so I wouldn't hurt him. I was a mess, a horrible lying mess. I deserved the glaring eyes coming from Naruto. I deserved everything and a little more.

People eventually went back to their own business and I was left with the awkward silence between Sakura, Hinata and me. Whatever condolence I was expecting from my friends it didn't come. I sat back and started picking in my meal but I wasn't hungry anymore I just felt nauseous.

"You're just gonna leave it at that?" I hear Sakura say. Her eyes are strained as she looks at me. I don't know what to say so I just stare back at her. I can tell she's angry with me. I want to tell her to stop judging me but the words don't come out. She makes a snarling sound at the back of her throat and gets up from her seat in an angry motion and then stalks away with her tray. I look at Hinata for comfort but she averts her eyes. Have I angered her too I wonder but know she won't say anything. However, she surprises me and the next words she utters makes me feel even more horrible.

"Perhaps you should figure out what you want Sasuke." She says her voice void of emotions. "If not for Kiba you should do it for yourself." Hearing her utter those words I know she knows. She then stands and follows Sakura's lead, leaving me alone at the table, her words ringing in my ears.

I don't meet up with my friends after that. By the time lunch is over I have chickened out and I don't feel like attending anymore classes for the day. I can't concentrate and the thought of my friends' judging eyes keep me slightly on edge. Instead I walk aimlessly off the school grounds and don't stop until I'm a good few miles away from the place where everybody seems to know my name and silently critic me as if I were some public source of amusement.

I stop when I reach a small playground in a deserted park. It's not very big, barely contains two swings and a sandpit. I move towards one of the swings and sit. I start to reflect on the things I've been through and done so far, from the last day of summer camp how Naruto and I ended up together to the accident, the strange letter lying at my desk at home, to Kiba, and his feelings, to my breakup with Naruto and eventually my consent to going out with his best friend even though I don't share the same feelings.

By the time I am finished my shoulders feels heavy as if the emotional burden has traveled down my back and now attached itself onto my body like some parasite feasting on me. The words Hinata had spoken to me at lunch returned to me and I consider them well as I sort through the events since the first semester of high school had begun.

And I realized she was right. Up until that point, I had so far done nothing for myself and only went along at other people's paces, done whatever they wanted me to do. It upset me, knowing Hinata had realized this before me. Did she think I was some weakling not capable of making my own choices? No, Hinata had been my friend for so long. She was only trying to help me. Deep down, I knew this but those judging slightly observing eyes from today… Somehow I felt as if I had failed her too. Sakura and I have quarreled before, it's expected since we are like two different sides of a coin, but this was the first time I have ever been in a row with Hinata. She and I are much more alike than Sakura and I. Perhaps that's why I take it a lot harder when it comes to Hinata.

Because we were so much alike, I know she must know about the guilt I feel. And if there's one thing I'm horrible at it is admitting to my weaknesses. I hated being vulnerable. But whatever I did nowadays made me only feel more naked and exposed. It was like a bad circle I couldn't get out of.

I have hit rock bottom. My friends won't talk to me, I'm dating a guy I only see as a friend and I'm being hated by the guy I love. Even if it meant admitting defeat I know it's the only way to break out of the evil circle, and that's just what I decide.

I kick off the ground, the swing taking me into the air. The slight breeze wash over me and it feels as if I'm cleansed by some invisible power. A tiny muscle near my lips jerks up and I can only imagine the growing smile on my lips when a genuine feeling of relief I haven't felt in a long time overcomes me.

I decide on the spot from then on I'm going to start making my own decisions and only do what I want. As soon as I get home my first move will be to burn the hateful letter on my work desk. I don't need some person who can't even admit who he is to tell me who to be. Why should I care of what they think?

The next move would have to wait until the next day. That's when I would tell Kiba the truth. It will be tough but he's my friend, he deserved my honesty. That much I had to give him even if it would hurt him.

I can't believe my months' long struggle would soon be over, whatever the outcome, I was prepared to atone for everything.

**Xx**

My nerves were a jittered mess. That's one way to describe it as I bite my nails as if I were six years old again. I stand waiting for Kiba. Earlier I sent him a text saying we have to talk and that we should meet up as soon as possible. We only have a ten minute break between classes but that's when we have decided to meet. I know it's not the best timing but I feel that it gives me a quicker escape. I know that makes me a coward but that's something I'm willing to accept for once.

Other students move busily around me, moving from classroom to classroom and gathering books. I spot a tuff of brown hair and know it's Kiba before I even see his face. I steel myself and reluctantly move the hand away from my mouth. Removing the only comfort I had so far.

He looks bothered I note. Does he know? I greet him as casually as I can while trying to hide my anxiousness.

"You wanted to tell me something?" He seems absent, his voice lacking its usual cheerful tone. His straightforwardness didn't exactly help my cause, but then again I didn't deserve it from the start.

"Yes," I say. My voice is shaking and the next words come out butchered. "I-I haven't b-been honest… to you… or me." Get a grip Sasuke! I tell myself. My eyes had found their way to the floor and I force them back up to look straight into Kiba's gentle hazelnut ones. He deserves this much, I argue with my inner self. "It's about you and me." I say.

"Sasuke you don't have to-" He starts to say but I don't let him finish.

"No I have to say this myself," Whether it's for him or me I'm not quite sure but he remains silent and I take it as his consent to continue. "These last few months I've been going along to whatever other people told me to do and I've realized it's not fair to you or me." I struggle with what to say. My pride makes it hard to admit defeat but Kiba needed my honesty. How else would I expect him to understand? Convincing myself this, I continue once again. "I don't expect you to understand and I realize if you will hate me now but… I don't return your feelings."

"Sasuke I know this already." Kiba cuts in. I give him a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"You think I don't notice the way you look at my best friend as if he's some freaking god?" He looks appalled. As if I've offended him in some way.

It annoys me to be honest. "I don't-" I begin to deny it but he shuts me up and his eyes ease up to its usual softness. And suddenly I feel guilty again as he looks at me through far too gentle eyes. Once again he draws me in and stirs something within me.

"I'm not telling you this to mock you. All I'm trying to say is that I know already. I was only fooling myself. But I'm happy you at least gave it a chance before turning me down."

What he says only makes me feel worse than I already do. He makes it out like I'm some kind of martyr. I guess in a way I am but I don't like and so I try to I hide my discomfort. I put on a tough face of indifference. I don't need to hurt my pride more than necessary. "So, no hard feelings?" It sounds way harsher than it did in my mind as I say it but Kiba remains smiling.

"Not at all." His reply offers me little comfort but I cling to it anyway. I feel slightly more at ease and suddenly another of the heavy weights has been lifted off my shoulders. As on queue the beeping alarm announcing the start of a new period echoes through the hall and students start filing out. My hand tightened around the strap of my bag as a wave of anxiety hit me. I knew I had to finish up or I'd be late to my next class.

I stood trying to come up with the best parting words but to my assistance Kiba kicked in a quick; "Promise me this though." His lips crack a silly smile yet something tell me there is an undertone of seriousness behind it. "Don't let him off too easily, all right?" But without waiting for an answer he started walking away from me. I cannot help noting there is a certain stiffness to the way he walks.

My eyes follow his back carefully and it takes a second before I manage to croak out a heavy, "I promise!" I stand there for a second until I remember class has already begun. I hurry and for once am happy about having class with Kakashi. Of course he's not there when I get to the door and so I just walk in.

Sakura and Hinata sit in their usual places when I see them. The spot where I sit is still unoccupied and I take it as a slight invite to join them. My feet drag behind as I walk up to them, silently asking if my presence is wanted or not. Sakura direct me under scrutinizing eyes but eventually her lips reveal a mild grin and I know she has forgiven me. Hinata looks somewhat relieved and I wonder once again if she knows. Her next words tell me she does. "How did it go?"

I slip into my seat and give half a shrug. "Fine. I told him the truth and that's about it."

"And?" Sakura joined in, as always pressing me for information. I felt overexposed and answered cryptically. "And he agreed."

"Liar. Tell us everything," Sakura continued pushing. I'm about to tell her off when Hinata beats me to it. "Sakura leave Sasuke alone." Sakura looks startled and I imagine I must be wearing the same expression. Hinata blushes. I guess she must have surprised herself.

Sakura regains from her shock quicker than expected and she forces an arrogant expression and pretends to inspect her nails as she say; "Well, all I'm saying is I can't for the world understand how you don't hang on to Kiba. He adores you and is far more honest than Naruto ever was."

Her words anger me and I don't hide it as I glare her down. Hinata must have noticed my sudden rise of anger because she cuts in before I have the chance to give my reply. "You don't have to understand Sakura. You have Lee and that's as far as your interest should go."

Sakura snorts but falls silent. I wordlessly thank Hinata and turn to the front of the class. Kakashi has finally decided it's about time to start math and for once I happily agree.

**Xx**

Classes eventually came to an end and school emptied out quickly. Sakura and Hinata suggested we go to the mall but I didn't want to follow so I lamely excuse myself telling them I have some assignments to catch up on. They left wishing me good luck and I moved towards the library. I wasn't completely lying to them when I said I had some assignments to do, it's just they're not due until next month so I had plenty of time left. But seeing as how I had nothing better to do I decided to do them anyway.

By the time I am done the clock has already struck four. There are almost no one in the halls mostly people whom has just finished their extracurricular activities as I make my way to my locker. I decide on cutting through the parking lot to get to my bus. The lot is strangely empty and has an eerie feeling to it. I pull my jacket closer because the temperature seems to have dropped since the last time I was out and suppress a shudder. I want to hurry to the bus so that I can get back to the warmth. But somewhere in the middle of the lot a guy steps out from between two cars and I can only groan as I realize who it is.

It's that same guy from before, the guy with the water name whom just can't seem to take a simple no for an answer. I roll my eyes as he approach me wearing that same predatory grin he always seems to wear around me. I'm not some meat you can have, thank you! I try to ignore him but he's so much taller than me and he uses his height to keep me in place. I clamp my teeth together to keep myself from just punching the guy. Honestly. He underestimates me a lot.

"Hey," he says in that slimy usual way.

_Don't hit him don't hit him_ I rant in my head yet my one hand clench into a fist prepared to punch if needed to. Suigetsu, as I finally recall his name, is most likely clueless to my inner conflict because he only advances further, his hand moving to touch my arm. "Don't touch me." I growl loud and dangerously. He ignores me and touches me anyway. I jerk my arm away but his hand grip around my arm and I shudder from disgust.

He maneuvers me in a way I lose footing and I fall against the hood of a car. I recognize the color and immediately realize whose it is. Naruto's. Oh please! It almost makes me laugh from the irony of it all. Surely now Naruto would show up and become the knight in shining armor. I snort at the idea momentarily forgetting the position I'm in.

"What the fuck." I hear someone say and it's not the guy towering above me. I glance over a broad shoulder and I don't even question it. I simply accept the fact my life has become some kind of poorly written movie.

Suigetsu stops molesting me as he turns to Naruto, his brow pulled into a frown. I ignore the situation I'm in and glare at Naruto. I know it's not his fault I'm in this position but I needed someone to blame and at that moment it was him. "Would you mind?" Suigetsu says rudely as if Naruto were walking in at a bad time, which I guess he might have thought but I certainly did not. "You had your chance and now it's my turn."

I stare bewildered at him for speaking so casually to Naruto. If Suigetsu was slightly above average when it came to height and strength, Naruto outdid him in every aspect. Naruto seemed equally surprised but he regained quickly. "The fuck are you to tell me what to do?" Naruto bulked up and he gave me a hesitant glance. "Are you seriously doing this guy now?" He asks and jerks a finger in the direction of Suigetsu. He seems angrier than he should be.

My eyes widen and I deny it within a second. "Hell no! He just can't get a hint!" I growl and yank my hands from his grip but it remains sturdy around my wrists and keeps me in place.

"Then who is he?" Naruto say and seem suspicious. At this time I damn his intelligence, or lack thereof.

"I don't know!" I roar exasperated.

"We have chem together!" Suigetsu cut in as he must have grown tired of being ignored. Both Naruto and I send him a silencing glare.

"Then why does he have you pressed against my car?"

"This is your car?" Suigetsu asks. We ignore him.

"Well I would have done something had not _someone _come along and been asking stupid questions."

"I'm still here!" Suigetsu objects.

"Well sorry if my questions are stupid but you're the one lying sprawled all over my car like some kind of…" His words die and I can only guess the ending of his sentence.

"Like some kind of what? whore? Admit it, that's just what you wanted to say!" I growl.

"I wasn't…" Naruto begin but he's averting his eyes because he knows I know that's just what he thought. He looks guilty.

"Don't… mock… me." I hear Suigetsu mumble and feel how his body changes its demeanor over me. His eyes become dark and his hand rises as if to slap me. From the corner of my eye Naruto seems to catch on and throws himself towards us but I beat him to it and instead I knee Suigetsu in the groin.

Suigetsu topples over and I aim a nice kick to his abdomen just for the heck of it. Naruto has frozen in mid motion. I release a snort and send him a questioning look. "What? You thought I was some damsel in distress in need of your rescuing? I had control the whole time."

At first Naruto looks confused but then his lips turn into a smirk. "I didn't know you were such a fighter."

This time it's my turn to be confused. What was he playing at? His words almost sounded flirting and the look in his eyes... I wonder if he knew it was there himself. He looked strangely enthralled.

"Anyway I better get home." I force myself to say and begin walking away but Naruto's voice stops me.

"Wait… Sasuke," His voice sounds strange and when I turn back to look at him he wears an expression twisted between surprise and... was that shame?

I make a silent humming sound to show I'm listening and he continues. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that… I don't think you're some kind of… wh-, well you know what I mean. "

It takes a lot of willpower not to just nod and say everything is forgiven. I still love him but I made a promise to myself, and for once I would stick to it. "I know." I end up saying but offer him no comfort.

"I was stupid for yelling at you before… I never even let you explain."

"You didn't even answer any of my text messages." I'm not mad as I say it. It's just a mere statement.

"I don't care if you guys kissed. I get it now. It was my own stupid fault it even happened. I kept you-" A moan cuts him off and we are once again reminded of Suigetsu on the ground. Naruto becomes unsettled and I suggest we leave. Nor I or Naruto wants that guy to listen in on our discussion.

We start walking away and let our feet lead the way. Naruto does most of the talking while I listen and every now and then add a silent sign that I'm still listening. He says he regrets the way he acted, that he didn't completely understand what I meant to him until our breakup. He says he took me for granted and I mostly just agree. I don't say it out loud but in my thoughts I congratulate him and wonder why he could not have come to this conclusion earlier. Had I known this back then I might have felt less alone. We might have actually stood a chance.

"I want to try it again," The words cut into me like a razor. It overwhelms me in a way I never thought was possible. We've stopped walking. "I want to try us." His eyes look kind, begging but most of all _caring_.

I want to tell him he's not being fair but also I want to tell him I do too. But my lips refuse to open. My mind is set and I cannot form a sensible sentence. Naruto had his chance and he blew it my mind reason and I struggle to make sense of it. Why now? Had not he just a day earlier acted like a jerk towards me, towards Kiba? Where did this sudden turn of heart come from?

"Sasuke?" I watch Naruto scratch the back of his neck nervously. He was expecting an answer.

This wakes me and I say the first thing that comes into my mind. "I don't- I mean I can't. We-" I point between the two of us, "I just can't." I can't trust his sincerity I realize. What if this was just another one of his games?

For a second, Naruto seems upset, but the emotion disappears as soon as it appears and he stares back at me through confused eyes. "Where does that leave us?"

My eyes drop for a slight second as I think hard of what to say but my mind was already set. I lacked any sort of trust towards him but there was still one thing I could offer him and if he was sincere enough he would accept it. "How about this..." I say and reach out my right hand. "My name is Sasuke. What's yours?"

At first Naruto seems even more befuddled but he catches on and his lips twist into a grin. "I'm Naruto. It's nice to meet you Sasuke.

"Friends?"

"Friends." And for once, we stood as equals.

The End

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><p>Leave a rosy comment as a nice ending, please?<p>

_I'm dying to hear your last opinion of awkward._

Also, quick question; do you want an epilogue?

Mata ne, minna-san ^ㅂ^


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